Ars (slang)

Ars (Hebrew: ערס‎ `ars), or Arsim (the plural in Hebrew) is a derogatory Hebrew slang term for the Israeli stereotype of a low-class young man who wears sleazy clothing and flashy jewelry. The female counterpart is an Arsit, formed by adding the Hebrew feminine ending "it" to the Arabic word "Ars" (Arabic: عرص‎, ʿarṣ) – which means a Pimp.

History

The Ars subculture traditionally was associated with young Jews of more recent MENA extraction, but in recent years has expanded to a broader range of backgrounds. Another term used for women is 'Frecha', from the word 'Frech' (פרך) which is the German/Yiddish word for being uselessly fresh (insolent, tacky, simpleton), inclined in the female form by means of the suffix 'a'('ה') (פרכה) (In contrast, the trait of being usefully fresh, i.e. daring is Chutzpah). It might have stuck due to stereotypical classist notions about non-Ashkenazi Jewish women with the (predominantly Moroccan or Iraqi) first name 'Frekha' (פרחה), which was frequent in the 1950s and the 1960s, during the large immigration wave from Morocco to Israel. "Frecḥa" is nowadays used in reference to intellectually shallow girls of all backgrounds, like bimbo or airhead in English.

In Arabic the word ars has several meanings:[1]

  • A shepherd (literal meaning)
  • A pimp in general (common colloquial meaning, the "sheep" being his prostitutes). Cfr. "ro`e zonot" (literally "shepherd of whores") in Hebrew.
  • A cuckold, a man whose wife is unfaithful to him
  • A man who pimps his wife
  • A wicked or contemptible person, a "bad guy"
  • A bastard, an illegitimate child
  • In Egyptian Arabic, ars is an expression that was probably coined during the British colonial period in Egypt. In line with the policies of the English occupier, prostitution in Egypt was a legal and permissible economic activity. Egyptians used the term during the British colonial era to denote a policeman who monitors prostitutes in their profession (حارس الرذيلة).[2] Ars (عرص) is probably one of the most common insults in Egypt. It became infamous recently. When the current leader of the regime, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, seized power in the 2013, a Twitter hashtag was trending: "Vote for the pimp" (#انتخبوا_العرص).

In Israeli parlance, the genre (characteristics, rough-association) is called arsawwat, although the Arabic plural of "Ars" is "Arsat".

See also

References
  1. Ayalon, David and Shinar, Pessah: Arabic Hebrew Dictionary of Modern Arabic, ed. Milson, Menahem
  2. "Arabic swear words and curses – a list • Arabic for Nerds". Arabic for Nerds. 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
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