ro3b رعب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ro3b” (رعب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning terror, dread.
Meanings
- terror, dread
- horror (film genre)
Usage
Ro3b refers to intense fear. In darija it belongs to a rather formal or media register. In conversation it is heard mainly in film dyal ro3b or aflam ro3b (horror films), and in phrases like dkhel lih ro3b (he was seized with terror). For ordinary fear, lkhel3a or the verb khaf is used instead. So an English speaker should avoid ro3b for a minor scare, as the word would sound emphatic.
Example
ما كنتفرجش فأفلام الرعب
ma kantfrrejch f aflam ro3b
“I don't watch horror films.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ro3b” but also “r3b”, “ru3b” and “ro3ob”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “ro3b” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “horror (genre)”; “terror, great fear”: ro3b in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “terror, dread”; “horror (film genre)”: ro3b in Tunisian.