ta3ma طعمة
Algerian Darja · noun
“ta3ma” (طعمة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning taste, flavour.
Meanings
- taste, flavour
- bait (fishing, hunting)
Usage
A very common feminine noun for the taste of food. It is often used in the negative to say that a dish is bland: ma fih hatta ta3ma, "it has no taste at all". By extension, it is used for a thing or activity that is pointless: hadi el-hadra ma fiha ta3ma, "this talk is pointless". The word also means the bait used for fishing or hunting, a more specialised sense. Not to be confused with t3am, which means "food" or "couscous" depending on the region.
Example
هاد الشربة ما فيها حتى طعمة.
had chorba ma fiha hatta ta3ma.
“This soup has no taste at all.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ta3ma” but also “te3ma”, “t3ma” and “taama”. 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.