kherraz خرّاز
Moroccan Darija · noun
“kherraz” (خرّاز) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning cobbler, shoe repairer.
Meanings
- cobbler, shoe repairer
- maker of traditional slippers
Usage
Kherraz refers to the leather craftsman who makes or repairs shoes. In the medinas, the word mainly evokes the maker of babouches (belgha), who works in his workshop. In everyday life, it is used for the neighbourhood cobbler to whom you take a loose sole or a heel that needs redoing: nmchi l kherraz. The plural is kherrazin, which is also used to name certain alleys or craftsmen's souks. The word is common and neutral. It does not refer to a shoe seller in a shop, but to the person who makes or repairs shoes by hand.
Example
ddit sbbati l lkherraz bach ylsq lih nّ3el
ddit sbbati l lkherraz bach ylse9 lih n3el
“I took my shoe to the cobbler so he would glue the sole back on.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kherraz” but also “khrraz”, “5rraz”, “5erraz” and “kharraz”. 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 “kherraz” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “cobbler, shoe repairer”; “craftsman who stitches leather”: kherraz in Algerian.