sket سكت
Moroccan Darija · verb
“sket” (سكت) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to be quiet, keep silent.
Meanings
- to be quiet, keep silent
- to stop (crying, shouting)
Usage
Sket means "to be quiet". In the past tense, the forms are sket (he went quiet) and sketti (I went quiet, you went quiet). In the present, say kayskot. The imperative sket or skot, "be quiet", is very common. It can sound curt, even rude, depending on the tone. It is often softened with safi or 3afak. With the preposition men, the verb indicates stopping a noisy activity: sket men lbka, "he stopped crying". Pitfall for an English speaker: sket does not mean "stay calm". It specifically means to stop talking or making noise.
Example
أنا سكت بزاف
ana sket bzaf
“I kept quiet a lot.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sket” but also “skt”, “skot”, “seket” and “sekt”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “sket” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to be quiet”; “to stop talking, cease”: skout in Tunisian.