sahla mahla ساهلة ماهلة

Algerian Darja · expression

“sahla mahla” (ساهلة ماهلة) is an expression in Algerian Darja meaning it's really easy, a piece of cake.

Meanings

1. it's really easy, a piece of cake
2. no problem, it's simple

Usage

Sahla mahla is an informal expression used to play down a task, an exam, or an administrative procedure. It means "it's easy, it's nothing". Mahla has no meaning of its own here: it is an echo that rhymes with sahla, "easy", and reinforces the idea. It is used to reassure someone, but also ironically to answer a person who underestimates a difficulty ("you think it's sahla mahla?"). The register is spoken and relaxed. It is often heard with negation: machi sahla mahla, "it's not that simple".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sahla mahla” but also “sehla mehla”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “sahla mahla” on the Arabic keyboard