gazouza قازوزة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“gazouza” (قازوزة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning soft drink, soda.
Meanings
- soft drink, soda
- round of drinks to celebrate
Usage
Gazouza is the usual word for any sweet fizzy drink, whatever the brand. It is used with or without an article: "tocherbou gazouza?", "jib el gazouza". The word appears in a social custom: after a success (baccalaureate, job, wedding), people ask the person to "pay for the gazouza", that is, to treat everyone to a round to celebrate. The plural gazouzét means bottles or sodas in general. The g is pronounced hard; in writing you also find 9 or q.
Example
تحب قهوة ولا قازوزة؟
t7eb 9ahwa wala gazouza?
“Do you want a coffee or a soda?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gazouza” but also “gazouz”, “9azouza” and “gazoza”. 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.