tfel تفل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tfel” (تفل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to spit.
Meanings
- to spit
Usage
Tfel means "to spit" and is conjugated ytfel in the present. The construction tfel 3la someone, "to spit on", expresses very strong contempt. It is therefore insulting when directed at a person. It is common to forbid spitting on the ground with ma ttfelch f l-ard. The word is informal but not vulgar when it describes the act itself. The corresponding noun is tfal or tfla, "spit". Do not confuse this verb with tfel, the shortened verb form of tfa, "to put out, extinguish".
Example
ما تتفلش فالأرض
ma ttfelch f l-ard
“Don't spit on the ground.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tfel” but also “tfal”, “tfl” and “tfell”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tfel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to spit”; “to spit on someone, to scorn”: tfel in Algerian.