lahhas لحاس
Algerian Darja · noun
“lahhas” (لحاس) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning servile flatterer, bootlicker.
Meanings
- servile flatterer, bootlicker
- one who flatters for personal gain
Usage
Lahhas comes from the root meaning "to lick". It refers to a person who servilely flatters a superior, a powerful person or someone they expect something from. It is also used for a man seen as too eager around women. The term is clearly pejorative and is used as a reproach, but it is not vulgar: the closest English equivalent is "bootlicker". It is often constructed with l: lahhas l'patron, "the boss's bootlicker". The feminine is lahhasa and the plural lahhassin. The corresponding verb is lhas, "to flatter basely".
Example
هذاك غير لحاس للشاف.
hadak ghir lahhas l'chef.
“That guy is just the boss's bootlicker.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lahhas” but also “lehhass”, “la7as”, “le7ass” and “lahas”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.