kawkaw كاوكاو
Algerian Darja · noun
“kawkaw” (كاوكاو) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning peanuts, groundnuts.
Meanings
- peanuts, groundnuts
Usage
Kawkaw is the everyday word for peanuts, whether roasted and salted or not. People nibble them in the evening with tea, in front of a match, or buy them in a paper cone from the sweet seller. The noun is collective; a single peanut is kawkawa, hence the expression habba kawkaw. The expression "to eat kawkaw" can mockingly suggest watching something passively, like a spectator. The word is colloquial and understood everywhere in Algeria.
Example
جيب شوية كاوكاو مع لاتاي
jib chwiya kawkaw m3a latay
“Bring some peanuts with the tea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kawkaw” but also “kaoukaou”, “kawkaou” and “cawcaw”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kawkaw” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “peanuts, groundnuts”: kawkaw in Moroccan.