mechghoul مشغول
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“mechghoul” (مشغول) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning busy (person).
Meanings
- busy (person)
- engaged (phone line), taken (seat)
- preoccupied, worried
Usage
Mechghoul is used for a person occupied with an activity: ena mechghoul tawa, "I'm busy now". It is also used for a phone line, el khatt mechghoul, or for a seat that is taken. With bel or 3la, it expresses worry: mechghoul 3lih, "I'm worried about him". This sense does not exist with English "busy". The feminine is mechghoula, the plural mechghoulin. The word is common in all registers. For a polite refusal, people often say mechghoul chwaya.
Example
سامحني، تو مشغول، نكلمك من بعد.
sam7ni, taw mechghoul, nkalmek men ba3d.
“Sorry, I'm busy now, I'll call you later.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mechghoul” but also “mashghoul”, “mechghol”, “meshghoul” and “machghoul”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mechghoul” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “busy, occupied (person)”; “occupied, engaged (line, toilet, seat)”: mchghoul in Moroccan.