chita شيتة
Algerian Darja · noun
“chita” (شيتة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning brush.
Meanings
- brush
- flattery, sucking up (figurative)
Usage
Literally, chita means a brush: a hairbrush, clothes brush or cleaning brush. The plural is chitat. In the figurative sense, which is very widespread, the word means self-interested flattery, like "cirer les pompes" ("polishing shoes") in French. People say dir chita (to flatter, to suck up), and chiyat means the flatterer. The verb chiyet means "to flatter servilely". This figurative sense is informal and pejorative. It is readily used to criticise a colleague in front of the boss or a zealous supporter. The context almost always makes it possible to tell the two senses apart.
Example
هاداك غير يدير الشيتة للشاف باش يطلعوه.
hadak ghir ydir chita lel chef bach ytal3ouh.
“That guy only sucks up to the boss to get promoted.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chita” but also “shita”, “chitta”, “cheta” and “chiita”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chita” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written شيتا, where it means “brush”; “clothes or shoe brush”: chita in Moroccan.