bzzerba بزّربة
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“bzzerba” (بزّربة) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning quickly, fast.
Meanings
- quickly, fast
- in a hurry, hastily
- soon, shortly
Usage
Bzzerba is a very common adverbial phrase: the preposition b- ("with") followed by zzerba, "haste". It therefore literally means "with haste". It comes after the verb: ghadi nji bzzerba, "I'm coming quickly", or dir bzzerba, "be quick". The word belongs to the casual, everyday register. On its own, the form zzerba is also used to hurry someone. Pitfall for an English speaker: the word does not always have the neutral sense of "quickly". It often signals that one is in a hurry or that things are going too fast. With the verb daz, "to pass", it is used to comment on time that has flown by.
Example
غادي نرجع بزربة
ghadi nrja3 bzarba
“I'll be back quickly.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bzzerba” but also “bzerba”, “bzarba”, “bzzrba” and “bzzarba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bzzerba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “quickly, fast”; “hastily, in a hurry”: bezzerba in Tunisian.