7achi حاشي
Tunisian Derja · expression
“7achi” (حاشي) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning pardon my saying, no offense to.
Meanings
- pardon my saying, no offense to
- except, excluding
Usage
7achi is used to apologize in advance before naming something considered dirty, shameful, or unflattering, politely excluding it from one's listener or readers. The most common phrasing is « 7achi elli yakra » or « 7achi elli yesma3 » (no offense to whoever reads or listens). The register is informal but courteous. Watch out for a pitfall: the same written form can also be the participle of the verb 7cha (to stuff, to insert). « 7achi rou7ek » then means "mind your own business". Only context can decide.
Example
حاشي اللي يسمع، الكلب دخل للدار.
7achi elli yesma3, el kelb dkhal lel dar.
“No offense to whoever is listening, the dog came into the house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7achi” but also “hachi”, “7ashi”, “7achy” and “7acha”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.