flan فلان
Algerian Darja · pronoun
“flan” (فلان) is a pronoun in Algerian Darja meaning so-and-so, some unnamed person.
Meanings
- so-and-so, some unnamed person
- flan (caramel dessert)
Usage
In the sense of "so-and-so", flan refers to a person one does not want or cannot name. The feminine is flana. The phrase "flan w flan" means "so-and-so and so-and-so", i.e. "certain people", often with a pejorative or exclusive nuance. One also says "flan ben flan". The same word written in Arabic can also mean the dessert, borrowed from French "flan". In that case, the l is pronounced darker and emphatic. Only context and pronunciation distinguish the two meanings. The "so-and-so" sense is by far the more frequent in conversation.
Example
قالي فلان راه يحوس عليك
galli flan rah y7aws 3lik
“So-and-so told me he's looking for you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “flan” but also “flen”, “foulan”, “fulan” and “flane”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “flan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “so-and-so, someone”; “a certain person (unnamed)”: flen in Tunisian.