# All dialects: snack, snacking



## the-moon-light

Hi all : )

Can we translate "snack" into: وجبة خفيفة ?

Is this the only translation??

Thanks


----------



## shafaq

There is at least    تصبيرة in this meaning.


----------



## the-moon-light

Thanks shafaq : )


----------



## Ghabi

I always wonder whether   تصبيرة in the Arab culture and "snack" in the Western culture are the same thing. To me the Western "snack" is stuff you eat just to please your palate, not out of any bodily need. Perhaps I understand the Arabic term too etymologically ("stuff that  keeps you patient [between the main meals]"), but is the term also used for things that you eat "just for fun"?


----------



## Mahaodeh

Yes Ghabi, you are right; taSbeera is what you eat because the meal will be late (for whatever reason) and you need the snack particularly to ease your hunger. If you are just eating for fun I would use wajba khafeefa in MSA, I'm not aware of a particular word in collequal for snack - I haven't even heard the word snack in collequal.


----------



## the-moon-light

So Maha, what can we say in collequal for "snack"??we don't use "wajba khafeefa" in our dialect.
What do you use in your dialect?
Or do we have only "tSbeera" and we don't have snack?


----------



## Modest-boy

We can also say العصرونية and اللمجة


----------



## إسكندراني

In Egypt: قزقزة is the verbal noun (verb: قزقز) and قزاقيز is the plural - I'm not sure there is a singular. All the ق are pronounced أ
Here are some more.


----------



## scetis

We've been trying to figure this one out for a long time... is there a word in Egyptian (or other dialects) for snacks/snacking/to snack? It comes up all the time in our family (snack time before bed, we have to buy snacks before we go to the movies, snacking at bed time is a bad habit, 'mommy, can I have a snack'... 

I now Egyptians love snacks, as do we all, it can be seen in all the chip and 'lib' stands here... but as I said, that general term to describe all of those quick bites seems to have eluded me. 

Thanks...


----------



## كلمات

Snacking, outside the three meals, is called رمرمة and usually is frowned upon within the family. Eating junk food is also considered رمرمة from most families' point of view. Snacks in general are called by their names or the names of their groups.
لب و سوداني
شيبسي
فشار
كيك
شوكلاتة
ساندوشات


----------



## إسكندراني

Snacking for me is
قزقزة 
2az2aza

Snacks
قزاقيز (rarely used)
2aza2i̅z

I don't know this word (رمرمة) but maybe I'm out of touch or something.


----------



## Schem

كلمات said:


> Snacking, outside the three meals, is called رمرمة and usually is frowned upon within the family. Eating junk food is also considered رمرمة from most families' point of view. Snacks in general are called by their names or the names of their groups.
> لب و سوداني
> شيبسي
> فشار
> كيك
> شوكلاتة
> ساندوشات



Where I come from, we differentiate between frowned-upon snacking and acceptable non-excessive snacking. The latter is called نقنقة and I believe the word is used all over the Kingdom and perhaps in other GCC countries as well. The other frowned-upon type of snacking is called ملاقس and it usually refers to excessive snacking that would result in loss of appetite or adversely contribute to one's weight/health. I don't think the word is used anywhere else.

We don't have an encompassing name for snacks in Saudi Arabia either, they're normally called by their individual names.


----------



## tr463

From what I understand, the MSA word for "snacks" is وجبات خفيفة

For EA, doesn't نقنقة / نقانق also mean "snacks"? (Taken from the title of the Fatafeat show "Shorba wa Naknaka" translated as "Soup and Snacks" with Chef Andrew and his useless assistant )


----------



## cherine

Schem said:


> Where I come from, we differentiate between frowned-upon snacking and acceptable non-excessive snacking. The latter is called نقنقة and I believe the word is used all over the Kingdom and perhaps in other GCC countries as well.


I like this differentiation. I think it's the same in Egypt. We do have na2na2a for snacking, though there's no word that I can think of for snacks; like كلمات said: every snack is called by its name. I haven't heard قزاقيز before, but there's the word تسالي (tasaali) that can be used for most if not all snacks as a general term.

When asking for a snack between meals/before lunch, we can say أكلة خفيفة akla khafiifa.


----------



## إسكندراني

An أكلة خفيفة is like a sandwich though, not a packet of crisps. It's like a mini-meal.


----------



## Xarakleb

Akhwan,

Can you provide (preferably colloquial or even better, slang) terms for the word "snacks" in the Lebanese, Syrian, & Palestinian dialects?

Shukran!


----------



## abdalhamid

السلام عليكم 

In Palestine we use مقبلات and I think that this word use also in syria and lebanon


----------



## Schem

Doesn't مقبلات mean appetizers?


----------



## cherine

I too think that مقبلات means appetizers not snacks.

And I was recently reminded of another word (I can't believe I didn't think of it when I posted in this thread the other time!) نقنقة na2na2a. There's a cooking show called شوربة ونقنقة and it's translated "soups and snacks". In Egypt, we use the word na2na2a a lot for snacking, we even have a verb for it: بينقنق bey-na2na2 (he's snacking) or عايزة أنقنق I want to have a snack.


----------



## djara

Tunisian: what you eat between meals تحريشة ta7riisha


----------



## Schem

cherine said:


> I too think that مقبلات means appetizers not snacks.
> 
> And I was recently reminded of another word (I can't believe I didn't think of it when I posted in this thread the other time!) نقنقة na2na2a. There's a cooking show called شوربة ونقنقة and it's translated "soups and snacks". In Egypt, we use the word na2na2a a lot for snacking, we even have a verb for it: بينقنق bey-na2na2 (he's snacking) or عايزة أنقنق I want to have a snack.







Schem said:


> Where I come from, we differentiate between frowned-upon snacking and acceptable non-excessive snacking. *The latter is called نقنقة and I believe the word is used all over the Kingdom and perhaps in other GCC countries as well.* The other frowned-upon type of snacking is called ملاقس and it usually refers to excessive snacking that would result in loss of appetite or adversely contribute to one's weight/health. I don't think the word is used anywhere else


----------



## cherine

I think I was so impressed with the translation of the program title that I forgot not only what you posted, but also what I posted myself a few years ago:


cherine said:


> We do have na2na2a for snacking, though there's no word that I can think of for snacks.


----------



## tr463

cherine said:


> I too think that مقبلات means appetizers not snacks.
> 
> And I was recently reminded of another word (I can't believe I didn't think of it when I posted in this thread the other time!) نقنقة na2na2a. There's a cooking show called شوربة ونقنقة and it's translated "soups and snacks". In Egypt, we use the word na2na2a a lot for snacking, we even have a verb for it: بينقنق bey-na2na2 (he's snacking) or عايزة أنقنق I want to have a snack.





tr463 said:


> From what I understand, the MSA word for "snacks" is وجبات خفيفة
> 
> For EA, doesn't نقنقة / نقانق also mean "snacks"? (Taken from the title of the Fatafeat show "Shorba wa Naknaka" translated as "Soup and Snacks" with Chef Andrew and his useless assistant )





Could someone confirm the plural of na2na2a?


----------



## cherine

(ay! more embarrassement )
Ok 

I think the na2na2a can work as a collective noun. But if we want to form a plural, I would personally go for na2na2aat نقنقات but I wouldn't say that نقانق is wrong.


----------



## Schem

نقانق means 'sausages' in my dialect lol. But since the food isn't very rooted in the local cuisine, the term isn't either. I think when they were first introduced they were called نقانق السجق and only the نقانق part stuck so you have a society that uses نقنقة to mean snacking and نقانق to mean hot dogs lol.

I guess outside of EA, you're better off sticking with نقنقة as a collective noun.


----------



## GoldBug

As is so often the case,  of course, the neologism سـناك  is becoming almost universal at least at the commercial level.  See sample usage in Morocco, Lebanon, Gulf:

http://www.qatifrestaurants.com/index.php?do=menu&code=1348739766

http://www.assahavillage.com/Arsnack.html?LId=22&CatId=246

http://dir.mza3et.com/agadir-restaurants/مطعم-سناك-سيسم-snack-grill-le-sésame


----------



## إسكندراني

A term being used on a restaurant menu isn't necessarily used by most people. Notice that the restaurant called سناك سيسام doesn't even use the arabic word for sesame!


----------



## cherine

It's also used in some dialects, like other loan words. I just heard it in a commercial a few days ago. But I'd say it's only used between educated people, or those who have some knowledge of English. At least until now, till it becomes widely used.


----------



## Xarakleb

You'll hear among some Lebanese use the expression *حواضر البيت*, which basically refers to household snacks.


----------

