What it means
سپر (separ) originally meant a shield in classical Persian, a native Iranian word with roots in Middle Persian. In modern spoken Persian it has been repurposed to mean a car bumper or fender, the plastic or metal strip that absorbs impact at the front or rear of a vehicle. Speakers say سپر جلو (separ-e jolo) for the front bumper and سپر عقب (separ-e aqab) for the rear bumper. You will rarely hear this word in a historical or poetic sense today unless you are reading classical literature: in daily life it almost always means the bumper of a car.
How to use it
- سپر ماشینم افتاد. (separ-e mashinam oftad.) “My car bumper fell off.”
- سپر جلو خش برداشته. (separ-e jolo khash bardashte.) “The front bumper has gotten scratched.”
- تو ترافیک سپرم رو زدن. (tu trafik separam ro zadan.) “In traffic someone hit my bumper.”
- باید سپر عقب رو عوض کنم. (bayad separ-e aqab ro avaz konam.) “I need to replace the rear bumper.”
Cultural note
Tehran’s famously congested traffic means سپر damage is a routine part of urban driving life. Minor سپر dents from slow-speed bumps are so common that many drivers simply ignore them. The phrase سپر به سپر (separ be separ, bumper to bumper) is a vivid colloquial description of standstill traffic that any Tehran commuter will recognize immediately. Panel-beating and bumper repair workshops, known as صافکاری (safkari), are found on the edge of almost every residential district in Iranian cities.