khorda خردة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khorda” (خردة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning scrap metal, used objects.
Meanings
- scrap metal, used objects
- wreck (old car)
- good-for-nothing (pejorative)
Usage
Khorda means scrap metal and used metal objects sold by weight. The khordeji is the scrap dealer or travelling scrap collector. In colloquial speech, an old car or a broken appliance is called khorda: karhbtou khorda. Applied to a person, the word becomes contemptuous: ya khorda! (you good-for-nothing!). This use is mocking, even insulting, and best avoided outside joking among close friends.
Example
باع الكرهبة القديمة خردة
be3 el karhba el9dima khorda
“He sold his old car for scrap.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khorda” but also “5orda”, “khourda” and “khorde”. 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 “khorda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “scrap metal, metal debris”; “junk, worthless stuff”: khorda in Algerian.