zoufri زوفري
Algerian Darja · noun
“zoufri” (زوفري) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning labourer, manual worker.
Meanings
- labourer, manual worker
- unattached man, bachelor
- common man, rough guy (pejorative)
Usage
Zoufri is an adapted borrowing from French "ouvrier". Its plural is zwafra. The first sense refers to the manual worker or day labourer, especially on building sites. The word has also taken on social meanings: the man on his own, without family or ties, and, in a pejorative use, someone humble, unpolished or resourceful. Depending on the tone, it can therefore be neutral, affectionate or contemptuous. Context is essential: used alone to speak about someone, the word can offend. It is also found in popular song and chaâbi.
Example
راهو يخدم زوفري في الشانطي.
rahou yakhdem zoufri fel chantier.
“He's working as a labourer on the construction site.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zoufri” but also “zoofri”, “zofri” and “zoufriya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zoufri” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “thug, rude, ill-mannered”; “rough, without manners (sometimes admiring)”: zoufri in Tunisian.