loub لب
Tunisian Derja · noun
“loub” (لب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning roasted seeds for snacking (glibettes).
Meanings
- roasted seeds for snacking (glibettes)
- pips, fruit seeds
- core, essence (of a matter)
Usage
In Tunisia, loub mainly means the roasted, salted seeds that people nibble while chatting, at the café, in front of a match or during Ramadan evenings. French-speaking Tunisians call them "glibettes". The type is often specified: loub abyedh for pumpkin seeds, loub ak7el for sunflower seeds. They are bought by weight from the dried-fruit seller. The word is also used for the pips of a melon or watermelon. The sense of "core, essence" comes from literary Arabic. It is found mainly in the fixed expression loub el-9asid, "the heart of the matter", in a more formal register. Pitfall: do not confuse it with the verb labb.
Example
هات كيلو لب أبيض للسهرية
hat kilo loub abyedh lel sahriya
“Bring a kilo of white seeds for the evening.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “loub” but also “lob”, “lub” and “loubb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.