fartas فرطاس
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“fartas” (فرطاس) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning bald.
Meanings
- bald
- scabby, with a bare scalp
Usage
Fartas describes a person who is bald or has a bare scalp. The feminine is fartsa. The word is colloquial and often mocking. Between close friends it is used as a teasing nickname: "ya fartas". But said to a stranger, it can offend, because it points out a physical flaw. It also appears in folktales and popular expressions where the fartas is a cunning character. It is best avoided in polite contexts. To describe someone neutrally, say "ma 3andouch chi3r" (he has no hair) instead.
Example
خويا ولّى فرطاس وهو عمرو صغير
khouya walla fartas w houwa 3omrou sghir
“My brother went bald while he's still young.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fartas” but also “fartass”, “fertas”, “fartes” and “fartess”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “fartas” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “bald, hairless”; “with a shaved head”: fartas in Algerian.