bayda9 بيدق
Tunisian Derja · noun
“bayda9” (بيدق) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning chess pawn.
Meanings
- chess pawn
- puppet, pawn
Usage
Bayda9 refers to the pawn in chess. In Tunisia it is mostly used figuratively, in political or sports discourse, for a person manipulated by others: 3amlinou bayda9 ("they made him a pawn"), 7attouh bayda9 ("they placed him as a pawn"). The term is pejorative: it suggests a lack of one's own will and submission to hidden interests. It is also used in football for a player an coach moves around at will. The plural is byade9. The word belongs to everyday register, common in online comments.
Example
او فال خطّة سياسية تحطّوا هو بيدق ,
ou fil 5otta siyesiye t7ottou houwa bayda9 ,
“In a political plan, they place him as a pawn.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bayda9” but also “baydak”, “bayde9”, “beyda9” and “baydaq”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.