نوکرم

What it means

نوکرم (nokaram) literally means “I am your servant” (نوکر servant + ـم “I am”). In the ta’arof register it is a humble nicety, roughly “at your service” or “anything for you,” in the same family as چاکرم and مخلصتم. It also has a sharp sarcastic use, مگه من نوکرم؟ (“Am I your servant?”), meaning “I am not your errand boy.”

How to use it

• ممنون. نوکرم. (mamnun. nokaram.) “Thanks.” “At your service.”
• نوکرتم داداش (nokaretam dâdâsh) “I’m at your service, bro.”
• مگه من نوکرتم؟ (mage man nokaretam?) “Am I your servant or what?”
• چاکرم، نوکرم (châkaram, nokaram) “Your humble servant.” (stacked ta’arof)

Cultural note

Tone decides everything: warm and humble when offered politely, biting when thrown back as a refusal. Part of the ritual-humility vocabulary of spoken Persian.