Bassa and Sababa are Israeli slang terms both originating in Arabic, and they have opposite meanings.
“Bassa” is the
bad feeling you get when something
annoying or disappointing happened. It’
s very close in meaning to the word “bummer” in English slang.
“Sababa” means “great!”, and is also used to describe feeling great or happy, feeling “sababa”.
Both
words usually describe a casual, light feeling, but can also imply a stronger feeling, depending on context.
There is a Hebrew saying “Lakahat et ha-bassa be-sababa”, which
literally translates as – to take the bad
stuff (the bassa) positively (with sababa). To stay positive even when bad things happen.
Netta seeks to send a message to everyone who suffers from bullying or other bad stuff – to ignore the bad stuff, pick themselves up and just carry on. Feeling “bassa”? Try to go “sababa”. Sababa is the answer.
A
normal day
scene:
Yossi: I learned so much for this
test and yet I failed it :(
Netta: Oh! bassa
scence day #2:
Yossi: Netta u won the Eurovision! How do you feel about it?
Netta: sababa
Yossi: How do you feel about the crushing loss of the Cypriot singer in front of you?
Netta: bassa sababa