khbech خبش
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khbech” (خبش) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to scratch, claw.
Meanings
- to scratch, claw
Usage
Khbech means to scratch or claw with fingernails or claws. The subject is often a cat or a child: lmech khbechni (the cat scratched me). The present is kaykhbech, and the noun for the mark left is khebcha (a scratch). Do not confuse it with hekk, which means "to scratch oneself" to relieve an itch. Khbech implies a light wound, often made with some aggression. The word is informal and common.
Example
المش خبشني ف يدي
lmech khbechni f yeddi
“The cat scratched my hand.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khbech” but also “5bech”, “khbch”, “khbach” and “5bch”. 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 “khbech” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “scratch, scrape”; “scratch on the skin”: khbech in Tunisian.