m9ess مقص
Moroccan Darija · noun
“m9ess” (مقص) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning scissors.
Meanings
- scissors
- shears, large scissors
Usage
M9ess means scissors. Unlike in English, the word is singular: you say lm9ess "the scissors". The plural m9ass is used for several pairs. The word also covers large tailor's or gardener's scissors. It appears in the proverb myat t5mima wla derba b lm9ess, which advises thinking long and hard before acting irreversibly, like "measure twice, cut once". The 9 represents the sound "q". The capital S, in some spellings, indicates an emphatic "s".
Example
ميات تخميمة ولا ضربات مقصّ
myat t5mima ou t5mima oula derbat m9ess
“A hundred thoughts rather than a single snip of the scissors.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m9ess” but also “m9ass”, “m9es”, “m9as” and “m9s”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “m9ess” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “scissors”: mqass in Tunisian.