w7la وحلة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“w7la” (وحلة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning predicament, tough spot.
Meanings
- predicament, tough spot
- getting bogged down
Usage
W7la refers to an awkward situation that one does not know how to get out of, the equivalent of the French "pétrin" or "galère". It is used mainly with the verbs ta7 f (to fall into) or dkhel f (to get into): t7tt f w7la, "I've fallen into a predicament". The expression wa7d l-w7la strengthens the idea: "a real mess". The register is informal and very common in speech. The word is linked to the verb w7el, "to be stuck", and keeps that image of sinking in: it is easy to get into and hard to get out of.
Example
طحت فواحد الوحلة ما عرفتش كيفاش نخرج منها
t7tt f wa7d lw7la ma 3reftch kifach nkhrej mnha
“I've fallen into a real mess, I don't know how to get out of it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “w7la” but also “wa7la”, “wehla”, “w7ela” and “wahla”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “w7la” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “mess, inextricable situation”; “trouble, jam one can't escape”: wa7la in Tunisian.