bahrej بهرج
Tunisian Derja · noun
“bahrej” (بهرج) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning showiness, ostentation.
Meanings
- showiness, ostentation
- pomp, noisy celebration
Usage
Bahrej refers to display, pomp, and things done to impress. It is often used critically, about costly weddings, flaunted wealth, or outward religiosity: mouch bahrej, "it's not showing off." The word can also, more neutrally, evoke the liveliness of a celebration. A verb is derived from it, bahrej, "to show off, to dazzle." The register is everyday and the connotation rather pejorative. Pitfall: it does not mean "fake, worthless" as it sometimes does in standard Arabic.
Example
ال دين تقشف , موش بهرج ,
el din ta9achoff , mouch bahrej ,
“Religion is austerity, not ostentation.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bahrej” but also “bahraj”, “bahrij” and “bahrage”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.