3sar عصر
Tunisian Derja · verb
“3sar” (عصر) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to squeeze, wring out.
Meanings
- to squeeze, wring out
- afternoon, asr prayer
Usage
The verb 3sar (imperfect yo3sor) means to squeeze or wring out. It is used for wet laundry ("3sar l7wayej"), and for a lemon or fruit from which you extract juice. Figuratively, it can mean to exhaust or bleed someone dry. It should not be confused with the noun l'3asr, which refers to mid-afternoon and the prayer of that name. For example: "nitlakaw ba3d l'3asr" (we'll meet after asr). In arabizi, the two words are often written the same way, 3sar or 3asr: context is what tells them apart.
Example
اعصر الحوايج قبل ما تنشرهم
o3sor l7wayej 9bal ma tonchorhom
“Wring out the clothes before you hang them.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3sar” but also “3asr”, “o3sor” and “asr”. 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 “3sar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to squeeze, to wring out”; “to force oneself (3ser rouhou)”: 3ser in Algerian.