Culture
Dar what?! Local owner's hilarious spin on house name has us in stitches
Maltese cheek has it's charms.

Caroline Curmi

As far as christening Maltese houses go, the long-standing tradition dictates the merging of the names of the husband and wives inhabiting it. For example, if the husband is called Joseph and the wife Maria, it is then very safe to assume that the couple's house is called JosMar.

Another popular tradition sees the word dar, or house in Maltese, incorporated with an emotive noun, such as Dar il-Ferh, a.k.a. House of Happiness or Dar it-Tama, a.k.a. House of Hope.

One local house owner came up with an interesting spin on this tradition that has left us in fits of laughter. Sticking to the first part, the owner combined Dar with the word Dartuni. The latter term does not exist in Maltese vocabulary, however when combined with the prefix, Dar Dartuni acts as a play on words on the Maltese term dardartuni, which literally translates to: you're [all] making me nauseous.

Maltese humour wins this round!

7th March 2021


Caroline Curmi
Written by
Caroline Curmi
When she’s not having a quarter-life crisis, Caroline is either drawing in a café, frittering her salary on sushi or swearing at traffic in full-on Gozitan. There is also the occasional daytime drink somewhere in the equation. Or two. A creative must be allowed at least one vice.

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