bekkay بكّاي

Moroccan Darija · adjective

“bekkay” (بكّاي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning crybaby, who cries easily.

Meanings

1. crybaby, who cries easily
2. whiner, complainer

Usage

Bekkay describes a person, often a child, who cries over nothing. The feminine is bekkaya and the plural bekkayin. The word is informal and slightly teasing: it is thrown at a fussy child ("nta bekkay") or, jokingly, at an overly sensitive adult or one who complains constantly. It is also used as a noun: "had l-bekkay". The intensive pattern (doubled middle consonant) indicates a habit, as in other character adjectives in darija.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bekkay” but also “bkkay”, “bakkay” and “bkay”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “bekkay” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “crybaby, cries easily”; “always complaining”: bakkey in Tunisian.