ka5 كخ
Moroccan Darija · interjection
“ka5” (كخ) is an interjection in Moroccan Darija meaning dirty, don't touch.
Meanings
- dirty, don't touch
- yuck, disgust
Usage
An interjection of children's language, addressed mostly to small children. It signals that something is dirty, disgusting or forbidden: an object picked up from the ground, food that has fallen. It is often pronounced with a doubled sound, kh kh, with a grimace of disgust. It is equivalent to "yuck" or "icky, don't touch". Between adults, it can express disgust in a playful or teasing tone. The register is colloquial and affectionate; it is not used in a serious context.
Example
كخ! ماتقيسش داك الشي
kkh! matqich dak chi
“Yuck! Don't touch that.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ka5” but also “kakh”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “ka5” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “yuck, that's dirty (to children)”; “ugh, expression of disgust”: kekh in Algerian.