yetkhenzer يتخنزر
Algerian Darja · verb
“yetkhenzer” (يتخنزر) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to glare, shoot a dirty look.
Meanings
- to glare, shoot a dirty look
- to scowl, look sullen
Usage
The verb khenzer describes staring at someone with a hostile, narrowed look full of anger or menace. One says mostly ykhenzer fih (he glares at him), and the form yetkhenzer stresses the attitude itself: someone who scowls and looks others up and down. Informal register, often used to reproach someone's attitude: "ma tkhenzerch fiya" (don't look at me like that). The word does not mean a mere glance, but a hostile, sometimes provocative stare. The pitfall: it has nothing to do with the pig (khanzir) in everyday usage.
Example
علاش راك تخنزر فيا هكذا؟
3lach rak tkhenzer fiya hakda?
“Why are you glaring at me like that?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “yetkhenzer”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.