tma3 طمع
Tunisian Derja · noun
“tma3” (طمع) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning greed, avarice.
Meanings
- greed, avarice
- covetousness, self-interested hope
Usage
Tma3 is the excessive desire to gain or obtain more. The word is almost always pejorative. The related adjective is "tamma3" (greedy) and the verb is "tma3 fi" (to covet something). The expression "dkhal 3la tma3" means to get involved in a deal purely out of self-interest. A common proverb, "tma3 tma3 w 5ser", says that whoever wants too much ends up losing everything. The word is frequent in reproaches, among friends as within the family.
Example
هههه هاذا داخل على طمع
hahahahaha hetha de5el ala tma3
“Hahaha, this one is in it out of pure greed.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tma3” but also “tma3a”, “tmaa” and “tama3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “tma3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “greed, avarice”; “covetousness, eagerness to profit”: tma3 in Moroccan.