bdabt بضّبط
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“bdabt” (بضّبط) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning exactly, precisely.
Meanings
- exactly, precisely
- exactly! (agreement)
Usage
BDDbT means "exactly" or "precisely". It is used to give a precise detail: a time, a place, a quantity. It is also used on its own to agree with what the other person says, like English "exactly!". It is often placed after the word it specifies. The initial d is emphatic and doubled, because it comes from the preposition b- followed by the assimilated article. It does not work as an adjective agreeing with a noun: despite some sources, it is used mainly as an adverb or as a response.
Example
شنو بغيتي تقول بضّبط؟
chnou bghiti t9oul bDDbT?
“What exactly do you want to say?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bdabt” but also “bddbt”, “bdbt”, “bddabt”, “bedbet” and “bddebt”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bdabt” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written بالضبط, where it means “exactly, precisely”; “sharp, on the dot (time, amount)”: bedhabt in Tunisian.