mada9 مداق
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mada9” (مداق) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning taste, flavor.
Meanings
- taste, flavor
- appeal, charm (figurative)
Usage
Mada9 refers to the taste or flavor of a dish or drink. It is often used in the negative: had lmakla ma fiha mada9 or bla mada9, "this dish has no taste." Figuratively, a situation, a party or a life that is dull is said to have "no taste": l7ayat bla mada9. The word is the everyday equivalent of Standard Arabic lmadha9; the dh is pronounced d. In everyday speech, ben ("good taste") is also used for appetizing food: fiha lben.
Example
هاد الطاجين ما فيه حتى مداق
had tajine ma fih 7ta mada9
“This tajine has no taste at all.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mada9” but also “madaq”, “mda9” and “madak”. 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.