labas bih لاباس بيه
Algerian Darja · expression
“labas bih” (لاباس بيه) is an expression in Algerian Darja meaning well-off, financially comfortable.
Meanings
- well-off, financially comfortable
- doing well, in good health
- not bad, decent
Usage
Labas bih is said mostly of a person who lives in material comfort: rajel labas bih, "a well-off man". The expression can also mean that a person is doing well, lacks nothing or is in good health. Applied to a thing, it means "not bad, decent". The final pronoun agrees with what it refers to: labas biha for the feminine, labas bihoum for the plural. It should not be confused with the greeting labas, "how are you / I'm fine". Its register is neutral.
Example
هاذوك ناس لاباس بيهم، عندهم دار كبيرة
hadouk nas labas bihoum, 3andhoum dar kbira
“Those are well-off people, they have a big house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “labas bih” but also “labes bih” and “labass bih”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “labas bih” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “well-off, comfortable financially”; “doing well”: labes bih in Tunisian.