chesmha شسمها
Tunisian Derja · expression
“chesmha” (شسمها) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning what's her name.
Meanings
- what's her name
- thingy (filler word)
Usage
Chesmha is the contraction of "ach esmha": "what is her name". It is used when the name of a feminine person or thing escapes the speaker, like "whatshername" or "thingy" in English. It is also very often used as a filler word while searching for words, in the middle of a sentence. The masculine is chesmou and the plural is chesmhom. The register is informal and spoken, very frequent in spontaneous speech. An English speaker must take care to match the form to the gender of the word being sought.
Example
شسمها اللي تخدم معاك؟
chesmha elli tekhdem m3ak?
“What's her name, the one who works with you?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chesmha” but also “chismha”, “chsmha” and “achesmha”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.