fekroun فكرون
Moroccan Darija · noun
“fekroun” (فكرون) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning tortoise.
Meanings
- tortoise
- very slow person (teasing)
Usage
Fekroun is the common name for the tortoise, especially the land tortoise. Its plural is fkaren. Children sometimes keep them at home, and it is a familiar animal of the Moroccan countryside. Figuratively, someone slow or sluggish is called a fekroun, in a teasing rather than insulting tone: bhal lfekroun means "like a tortoise". The article is barely assimilated, and one says lfekroun. Spellings vary a lot online (fkroun, fakroun), because the first vowel is very short. The word is in general use across the country.
Example
كايتمشى بحال الفكرون
kaytmecha b7al lfekroun
“He walks like a tortoise.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fekroun” but also “fkroun”, “fakroun” and “fekrun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “fekroun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “tortoise, turtle”; “very slow person”: fakroun in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “tortoise, turtle”; “slow or dim-witted person (pejorative)”: fakroun in Tunisian.