zbel زبل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zbel” (زبل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning garbage, household waste.
Meanings
- garbage, household waste
- worthless thing, junk
Usage
Zbel is the common word for household garbage. It is a collective noun: zbel is used without an article to talk about waste in general. Typical constructions are lo7 zbel or rmi zbel, "to throw out the garbage", and 7iyed zbel, "to remove the garbage". The trash can is often called la poubelle or ssandoq dyal zbel. The garbage collector is zebbal. Figuratively, an object of poor quality or something considered worthless is called zbel. The word is colloquial but not vulgar. Used of a person, however, it becomes very contemptuous.
Example
أجي ترمي زبل
aji trmi zbel
“Come and throw out the garbage.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zbel” but also “zbl”, “zbal” and “zbèl”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zbel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “trash, garbage”; “worthless thing, junk (pejorative)”: zbel in Algerian.