3assas عساس

Tunisian Derja · noun

“3assas” (عساس) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning guard, watchman.

Meanings

1. guard, watchman
2. parking attendant

Usage

3assas means a guard or watchman: of a building, a construction site, a school or a factory, often at night. In urban use, it also means the man who watches cars parked on the street for a small coin. One says 3assas parking or simply 3assas. The plural is 3assasa. The word is neutral and very common. The corresponding verb, 3asses, means "to watch over, to stand guard". Jokingly, a goalkeeper who hardly moves is called a 3assas.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3assas” but also “assas”, “3asses” and “3assess”. 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 “3assas” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “guard, watchman”; “parking attendant”: 3assas in Algerian.