sda3 صداع

Algerian Darja · noun

“sda3” (صداع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning bother, hassle.

Meanings

1. bother, hassle
2. noise, racket
3. headache

Usage

Sda3 refers to whatever bothers you: noise, complications, an annoying person. People say sda3!, "what a pain!", or ma n7abch sda3, "I don't want any trouble". The related verb is sedda3: ma tsedda3nich, "don't give me a headache". The original sense of headache survives, notably in sda3 ras. The word is very common and informal, but not vulgar. A tiresome person is called msedda3 or sedda3.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sda3” but also “sdaa”, “sda3a” and “sedda3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.

Type “sda3” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “noise, racket”; “headache, hassle”: sda3 in Moroccan.