lamsa لمسة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“lamsa” (لمسة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning touch, small finishing touch.
Meanings
- touch, small finishing touch
- contact, act of touching
Usage
Lamsa refers to the act of touching, but it is mostly used figuratively to mean a "touch" or "small finishing touch" given to something, for example in cooking, decoration or hairstyling. It is often heard in 3tih wa7ed lamsa, "give it a little touch". The word has a somewhat elevated tone, close to Standard Arabic. For the physical act of touching, darija prefers the verb qas, "to touch", or the noun of that verb, rather than lamsa.
Example
زيد ليه واحد اللمسة ديالك
zid lih wa7ed lamsa dyalek
“Add your own little touch to it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lamsa” but also “lmsa”, “lemsa” and “lamssa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.