mess مس
Moroccan Darija · verb
“mess” (مس) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to offend, infringe on.
Meanings
- to offend, infringe on
- to touch lightly
- to affect, concern
Usage
The verb mess (imperfect ymess) is used mostly in a figurative sense: mess b- or mess l-karama, "to offend someone's dignity". It is often found in the negative, as a mounse or a challenge: ma tmessch dyali, "don't touch my things". For simple physical contact, qiss is more common. The participle mmessous describes a person afflicted, especially by jinn. A pitfall in writing: in arabizi, "ms" is also an abbreviation of the French "mais" (ms mazal, "but not yet"). It is not the same word, and only context tells them apart.
Example
راه مس بالكرمة ديالك
rah mess blkarama dialek
“He offended your dignity.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mess” but also “mass”, “ms”, “mes” and “mss”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.