chmeta شماتة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“chmeta” (شماتة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning shame, humiliation, disgraceful thing.
Meanings
- shame, humiliation, disgraceful thing
- gloating at another's misfortune
Usage
In Tunisian, chmeta refers above all to what brings shame or exposes someone to ridicule. It is heard in the exclamation "ya chmeta !", which expresses indignation or mockery. Addressed to a person, it becomes a contemptuous form of address ("you disgrace"), to be used with caution. The second sense, closer to Standard Arabic, refers to the pleasure of seeing someone else fail. In that case the verb tchammet fi, "to gloat over someone's misfortune", is used more often. The register is informal and often emotionally charged. Do not take it as a plain, neutral "shame": the word almost always carries a judgment.
Example
يا شماتة، شنوة هالعملة اللي عملتها؟
ya chmeta, chnowa hal3amla elli 3maltha?
“What a shame, what is this thing you did?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chmeta” but also “chmata”, “shmeta” and “chmèta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chmeta” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “joy at another's misfortune”; “mockery, taunting”: chmata in Algerian.