bhima بهيمة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“bhima” (بهيمة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning beast, domestic animal.
Meanings
- beast, domestic animal
- fool, idiot (mild insult)
Usage
Bhima literally means a domestic animal, especially a pack or herd animal: donkey, mule, cow. The usual plural is bhayem. Applied to a person, the word becomes a fairly common insult calling them stupid or brutish: ya bhima!, "you donkey!". This use is colloquial and hurtful, but less vulgar than sexual insults. Best avoided with strangers. In the countryside, the animal sense remains entirely neutral.
Example
البهيمة مربوطة قدّام الدار.
el bhima marbouta 9odem ed-dar.
“The animal is tied up in front of the house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bhima” but also “behima” and “bhimaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bhima” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “beast, domestic animal”; “brute, idiot (pejorative)”: bhima in Moroccan.