3id milad عيد ميلاد
Moroccan Darija · expression
“3id milad” (عيد ميلاد) is an expression in Moroccan Darija meaning birthday.
Meanings
- birthday
Usage
3id milad means "birthday". It is mostly used with a possessive: 3id miladi (my birthday), 3id miladek (your birthday). The form 3id lmilad is also heard. The usual greeting is "3id milad sa3id", often sung. In everyday conversation, many Moroccans simply say "anniversaire", borrowed from French. "Dar 3id milad" means to organize or celebrate a birthday. Note: the expression is not used for the anniversary of an event, such as a wedding or a founding. For that, people use dikra, or again "anniversaire".
Example
غدا عيد ميلادي، غادي ندير حفلة صغيرة
ghda 3id miladi, ghadi ndir 7afla sghira
“Tomorrow is my birthday, I'm going to have a small party.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “3id milad”. 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 “3id milad” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “birthday”: 3id miled in Tunisian.