wasta

simply defined, wasta is favoritism, which is an attempt to use the influence of relatives or acquaintances to achieve certain objectives. this can include anything from hooking up your house to the water system to getting appointed in a high level government job. most people feel that getting anything done smoothly and quickly requires some sort of wasta with the people in charge of the particular issue.
getting a good job in middle east is getting harder and harder. don’t get me wrong.. there are a lot of available jobs in the market, but to get a good paying job at a decent workplace… and at a place where you can take advantage of your university training and workexperience, is hard. for only in those circ-mstances will you really shine through. to get that kind of job you need to know someone. unfortunately, who you know may be more important than what you know.

i find this an inherently unfair practice, you end up employing people that are lazy and do not work as hard just because they know the boss. i know i am generalizing, there are exceptions. ultimately, it is the person with the most potential that sits on the sidewalk waiting for a phonecall from a company he applied to work for 6 months ago. favoritism or as we say “wasta” is more important than anything on your cv.
is an arabic word that loosely translates into ‘clout’ or ‘who you know’. it refers to using one’s connections and/or influence to get things done, including government transactions such as the quick renewal of a p-ssport, waiving of traffic fines, and getting hired for or promoted in a job.
example:
one guy is looking for a job at some company and he is more then qualified to get the job.

then a second guy who no experience at all and he gets the job.

the first guys asked a worker, why that the second guy gets the job.

the worker reply he cousin is a manger in the department.

the first guy said ahh i see he got wasta.
connections and to a lesser extent street cred..usually the people you know who can help you in a way…
can be singular or plural
arabic street slang
my wasta got me a car and driver for tonight

“how did you get onto the guestlist for tonight”
“wasta”
1. white rasta. person of caucasian decent imitating aspects of rastafarian religion (hair in dreadlocks, use of marihuana) whilst not holding rasta beliefs. much like term ‘wigger’ (white n-gg-r)
2. name of white reggae/punk band.
3. place in south dakota, usa.
that white boy says he’s a rasta but doesn’t care for jah, what a wasta.
a dish containing more than 3 various types of pasta, all cooked together, and topped with cheese and a strong garlic sauce, named for the wow! effect that the smell of the sauce and the sheer amount of pasta have on the consumers; often written completely in capital letters
when grandma died, several people brought over wasta which lasted us a long time.
1. person of caucasian decent imitating aspects of rastafarian religion whilst not holding beliefs. much like term ‘wigger’.
2. name of white reggae/ punk band.
that white boy says he’s a rasta but doesn’t care for jah, what a wasta.
n. a person of caucasian decent acting like a rastafarian, but not actually practicing any of the religion’s principles.
i seen this wasta at the reggae fest an’ i attempted to reason with him on the principles of haile sel-ssie, but he says he don’t know nuthin about that. i told that wasta sel-ssie is ras tafari, and he gave me a fake–ss smile…freakin’ wasta.