m3awaj معوج
Algerian Darja · adjective
“m3awaj” (معوج) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning crooked, bent.
Meanings
- crooked, bent
- dishonest, shady
- unlucky (zehri m3awaj)
Usage
Literally, m3awaj describes something that is not straight: a wall, a picture frame, a road. Figuratively, it describes a dishonest system, deal or person, i.e. "crooked". In the expression zehri m3awaj, literally "my luck is crooked", it means "I have no luck". The feminine is m3awja. The common opposite is sawa sawa or mrayyah, "straight, well aligned". The word is neutral and is used in all registers of conversation.
Example
التصويرة راهي معوجة، عدلها
tteswira rahi m3awja, 3addelha
“The picture is crooked, straighten it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3awaj” but also “m3awej”, “m3ouwej” and “m3awadj”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “m3awaj” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “crooked, not straight”; “dishonest, crooked in behaviour”: m3awej in Tunisian.