chkara شكارة
Algerian Darja · noun
“chkara” (شكارة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning bag (plastic, shopping).
Meanings
- bag (plastic, shopping)
- bag, sack (burlap)
- bribe money
Usage
Chkara literally means a bag: a plastic shopping bag, a sack of semolina, cement or potatoes. The plural is chkayer. Figuratively, the word is very well known in Algeria for dirty money or bribes, alluding to bags of banknotes. For example, "mol chkara" is someone who buys a place, a job or a candidacy. In this sense, the word is critical and pejorative. By familiar extension, it is also used for a large quantity: "chkara ta3 drahem", a bag of money.
Example
عطيني شكارة نحط فيها الخضرة
a3tini chkara n7ott fiha lkhodra
“Give me a bag to put the vegetables in.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chkara” but also “chkkara”, “shkara”, “chekara”, “chkâra” and “lechkara”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find شكارة and الشكارة, all the same word.
Type “chkara” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “bag (plastic, school bag, satchel)”; “money, funding (figurative, moul chkara)”: chkara in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “large sack, canvas or jute bag”; “bag (plastic or paper) in general”: chkara in Tunisian.