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