khaffef خفف
Tunisian Derja · verb
“khaffef” (خفف) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning lighten, relieve.
Meanings
- lighten, relieve
- hurry up
- go easy on someone
Usage
Khaffef means to make lighter, both literally and figuratively: to lighten a load, a sorrow, a pain. With the preposition "3la", "khaffef 3lih" means "go easy on him, be less hard on him". It is also heard as comfort: "Allah ykhaffef" (may God lighten your burden). In the imperative on its own or with "chwaya", it often means "hurry up". This is a pitfall for an English speaker, who would rather expect "slow down". The register is everyday.
Example
خفف شوية راهو تعب.
khaffef chwaya 3lih rahou t3ab.
“Go easy on him, he's tired.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khaffef” but also “5affef”, “khafef” and “khaffaf”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khaffef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to lighten, relieve”; “to keep it short”: khffef in Moroccan.