Môsîqâ موسيقى is music in Moroccan Arabic and in Modern Standard Arabic. The word music itself comes from the Greek word mousikê, which sounds a lot like môsîqâ
The slang way of saying môsîqâ is lmmâsq لماسق. This can even be conjugated, and the verb is tmôsq تموسق, to listen to music.

Animusic will change the way you ’see’ music. Here are some of my favourites:

Animusic – Pipe Dream 2

Animusic – Pogo Sticks

Animusic – Resonant Chamber

Animusic – Aqua Harp

Animusic – Acoustic Curves

I’ll let you discover the rest, there are plenty of them.

Kdba كدبة is a lie in Moroccan Darija, it comes from the MSA word: kedhba كذبة.
To lie = Kdb كدب in Darija, kadhiba كذب in MSA.
Liar (m.s) = Kddâb كداب in Darija, kâdhib كاذب in MSA.
Liar (f.s) = Kddâba كدابة in Darija, kâdhiba كاذبة in MSA.

Kdôb كدوب is lies or lying in Darija. There is another synonym for it, which is zz3t الزعت.

White lie is an expression that exists also in Darija: kdba bîDa كدبة بيضة, meaning an innocent or small lie. But is there ever any innocent lie? Or as some say: since when does lying take different colors?

There is also the expression: kdbat abrîl كدبة أبريل, for April’s fool.

Here is a beautiful liar. Check it out when he closes his eyes at the moment of… truth!

Transcription of the video in English:
Mom: Brian?
Brian: What?
Mom: Brian?
Brian: What?
Mom: Did you drink the orange soda?
Brian: No I did not drink soda.
Mom: You did not drink the orange soda?
Brian: No!
Mom: But… who did?
Brian: Kelly did.
Mom: Kelly drank the orange soda, and you didn’t have any orange soda?
Brian: No!
Mom: And you’re sure?
Brian: Yep!
Mom: And you’re not telling mommy a lie?
Brian: Noooope!
Mom: It’s just… your brother drank it?
Brian: Yeah!
Mom: Your brother drank all the orange soda?
Brian: Yeah!

Translation of the video into Darija:
Mâma: Brian?
Brian: Ashnô?
Mâma: Brian?
Brian: Ashnô?
Mâma: Shrbtî lmônâdâ lliîmôniyya?
Brian: llâ, anâ mâ shrbt 7ttâ mônâdâ.
Mâma: Mâ shrbtîsh lmônâdâ lliîmôniyya?
Brian: llâ!
Mâma: walakin… shkôn llî shrbhâ?
Brian: Kelly.
Mâma: Kelly howwa llî shrb lmônâdâ llîmôniyya, w ntâ mâ shrbtî 7ttâ mônâdâ lîmôniyya?
Brian: llâ!
Mâma: Wash mt2akkd?
Brian: Ah!
Mâma: W mâshî katkdb 3lâ mama?
Brian: Llâaaa!
Mâma: Hiyya… khôk shrbhâ?
Brian: Ah!
Mâma: khôk shrb koll shî lmônâdâ llîmôniyya?
Brian: Ah!

Transcription in the Arabic alphabet :

.ماما: براين
براين: أشنو؟
ماما: براين.
براين: أشنو؟
ماما: شربتي لمونادا الليمونية؟
براين: لا، أنا ما شربت حتى مونادا
ماما: ما شربتيش لمونادا الليمونية؟
براين: لا.
ماما: ولكن… شكون اللي شربها؟
براين: كيلي.
ماما: كيلي هو اللي شرب لمونادا الليمونية، و نتا ما شربتي حتى مونادا ليمونية؟
براين: لا.
ماما: واش متأكد؟
براين: آه.
ماما: و ماشي كتكدب على ماما؟
براين: لاااااا.
ماما: هي… خوك شربها؟
براين: آه.
ماما: خوك شرب كل شي لمونادا الليمونية؟
براين: آه

Zrbân or mzrôb, a masculine singular adjective in Darija meaning “to be in a hurry”. It comes from the verb zrb: to act quickly, to hurry up.

Zrb 3lâ shî wâ7d is a common expression meaning that you acted so fast for a person to have enough time to react. Ah 3lâ zrba, would that person say. That goes also with a person who has jjbha.

Small conversation:

In Darija:

Mohamed: bqâ m3ânâ shwiyya.
Omar: llâ, mâ nqdrsh. Rânî zrbân.
Mohamed: ashnô 3ndk?
Omar: kâyn wâ7d lmatch mohim dyâl sh-shtrnj f linternet.

In English:

Mohamed: Stay with us for a while.
Omar: No, I can’t. I am in a hurry.
Mohamed: What do you got to do?
Omar: There is an important chess game online.

In Arabic letters:

.محمد: بقى معانا شوية

.عمر: لا، ما نقدرش. راني زربان

محمد: أشنو عندك؟

عمر: كاين واحد لماتش مهم ديال الشطرنج ف لانتيرنيت

Earrings are Twâng طوانگ in Moroccan Darija, or Twingât طوينگات
In Rabat, they are called  zhhâqât زهاقات. zhhâgât زهاگات  or zwâhg زواهگ.
In MSA, they are called 7alaqât حلقات or aqrâT أقراط.

Stud earrings can be called one of the above too, but they are mostly called lbôlât لْبُولات. [Like in the plural word: lamps]

There isn’t a common age for girls to get their ears pierced in Morocco, parents decide to whenever they want. And it’s extremely rare to see boys with earrings, because that’s not allowed by religion and not appreciated in the culture.
I remember that I used to see little girls with pierced ears, but they had a piece of knotted yarn pending from their ears as to replace the earrings. Thinking of it now, I can’t really figure out why was that. Was it because they were poor and couldn’t afford earrings? Or were they allergic to gold or silver but still wanted to keep their ears pierced? Was it a test period before wearing earrings? I don’t know…
I got my ears pierced in a jewellery store. I was old enough, already in primary school, but I don’t seem to remember what tool was used. I just remember that it hurt a little bit, and I felt like my ears were on fire. As for the oldest generations, they used to do this the traditional way, using needles.

When it comes to choosing earrings, commonly what women like about earrings is their value, their stylish look, the bling-bling part, etc. But what if the earrings lack the pre-mentioned qualifications? Like these really creepy ones:

Image credits

You’re literally going to have little squirrel’ feet pending from your ears! Hairy feet, mind you! And whenever you move your head, the nails will be gently scratching your neck. Aww, cute! [Arg]
Would you girls really wear these?
Would you guys really consider offering these?

I wouldn’t consider wearing those, nor offer them, nor even getting any close to them. Instead, I just got these cuties:

You know you are a girl who loves Internet too much when you buy earrings just because they are called “Email earrings”.

Danone: masculine word… What? That’s not a vocabulary entry? Are you sure?

In Morocco, there is no such word as “yugurt” in Darija. Seriosly! Danone had monopolized the market for so long, that for Moroccans yugurt equals Danone . Currently, with other brands in the market, people still say to môl l7anôt (the grocer): “3Tînî 3âfâk wâ7d danone dyâl ljawda” –

عطيني عافاك واحد دانون ديال الجودة [Give me please one "danone" of "Jawda"], for example. Jawda being another yugurt brand by Copag.

The same thing applies to Tide and Omo (detergents). People would use both interchangably, and even grocers would give you Tide even if you asked for Omo and vice versa. “3Tînî wâ7d Tide dyâl Omo” -

عطيني عافاك واحد تيد ديال أومو [Give me please one "Tide" of "Omo"], would people say.

Image: Le Cauchemar by Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1802

“I was awake and conscious. I felt a heavy weight over my chest, or more like some creature sitting on it, and I couldn’t move. I wanted to get the damned thing away from me, but I had absolutely no control over my body, and the freaking thing was too heavy to move by an inch. I wanted to scream for help, but no voice came out of my mouth. I panicked and cried… Although I remained completely soundless. It was frightening!” This is a testimony I often heard, without realizing how scary this experience actually is, until the “monster” paid me a visit once, the only and unique time in my whole entire life.

We call “him” in Morocco bôghTTâT بوغطاط  in Darija and baghrâr باغرار  in Berber. In the Middle East, they call it al-jâthôm الجاثوم, which is a word that stands also for “nightmare” in MSA.

In reality, bôghTTâT is a physiological state called: Sleep Paralysis. In MSA: shalal annawm شلل النوم.

What’s Sleep Paralysis? Or what does bôghTTâT really stand for?
20% of sleep is what’s called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is the portion of sleep during which dreams occur. And when you are dreaming, the brain sends signals to your muscles to completely relax, so that if you dream that you’re crazily running, you don’t produce the same moves in bed and bang the wall. Sleep paralysis occurs when a person goes into or out of a REM sleep. It’s an ill-timed disconnection between the brain and the body. That is when you suddenly wake up before your brain orders your body to get back to its normal state, which makes you fully conscious, yet hallucinating.

Qualifying Sleep Paralysis by a monster does not come out of the blue. In many cultures, nightmares and all kind of nocturnal attacks were always associated with demoniac spirits. Nowadays, some scholars even believe that sleep paralysis is all about abduction by space aliens!
[Check out other references to Sleep Paralysis in different cultures]

Almost, 50% of people have experienced sleep paralysis at least once in their life. Have you?

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Welcome!

 Animated cartoons are arrosôm al-mota7arriakah الرسوم المتحركة  in MSA. In Darija, we also say rrosôm lmota7arrika, or shorten it to cartoons, rrosôm.

Another name for the animated cartoons is inspired from Mickey Mouse, as some Moroccans mainly say mikkiyât ???????? for all kind of animated cartoons, without Mickey being part of them. And some would ironically or jokingly say mikkiyât مِيكّيات . Calling someone mikh-khî, or a group of people mikh-khiyât مِيخّيات is insulting, because it implies that they are helpless or cowards.

In the late 80s and beginning of 90s, Moroccan kids had only the two Moroccan channels to watch. And cartoons’ time was at 6pm, after school. You’d see all the kids running home not to miss the daily cartoon dose. There was also the well known Al-qanât aSSaghira القناة الصغيرة (the small channel), a weekly TV programme on Sunday mornings, that had all kinds of nice activities for kids.
Nowadays, in the 21st century, there are plenty of TV channels. Kids go from Al-Jazeera for kids, to Space Toon or MBC3 and watch cartoons any time they want. They are sure they will find a cartoon on at any given time, as long as they manage to get the remote control.

Today, I want to share with you some of my childhood’s cartoons. I spent the whole day searching On Youtube and reviving all the memories. For some of the cartoons, I remember very well the title and opening. But for others, the title feels strange, but once I listen to the opening, all the memories are there; I am not 100% sure that I watched a minority of these, but feel strangely familiar with them. Feel free to let the rest of us know about your favourite cartoon if I happened to miss mentioning it.

Below is a list of 60 cartoons that shaped the childhood of MILLIONS of Moroccan kids, and Arab kids in general, during the 80s and 90s.
Now fasten your safety belts, and get ready for this journey back in time. The time machine will now be turned on. I wish you a safe journey.

Sali سالي


Moghamarât Sôzân   مغامرات سوسان


Bill wa Sebastien بيل و سباستيان

Attinnîno aSSaghîr التنين الصغير
Captain Majed كابتن ماجد
Lôlô aSSaghîra لولو الصغيرة
Alice fî bilâdi al3ajâ2ib أليس في بلاد العجائب
Qaryato attôt قرية التوت
Môka môka موكا موكا
Assanâfir السنافر
Robotan روبوتان
Grendizer غرندايز
Ferdy فيردي
Addibabato aTTayyibôn الدببة الطيبون
Addibabto aTTa2ira الدببة الطائرة
Lobna assarî3a لبنى السريعة
Zahrato Albarârî زهرة البراري
Fatâto lmarâ3î فتاة المراعي
Alfatâ annabîl الفتى النبيل
Roben Hood روبن هود
ArrawDato alkhadrâ2 الروضة الخضراء
Soqôro Al2arD صقور الأرض
Annamiro almoqanna3 النمر المقنع
A7lâm wa fara7 أحلام و فرح
Ibnatî l3azîza râwiya ابنتي العزيزة راوية
ADDarbato aSSâ3iqa الضربة الصاعقة
Sala7ifo anninjâ سلاحف النينجا
Almâsato azzarqâ2 الماسة الزرقاء
Sa7ibo aDH-DHilli aTTawîl صاحب الظل الطويل
Moghamarât Zîna wa na77ôl مغامرات زينة و نحول
Sindibâd سندباد
Kalemero كاليميرو
Mawkli ماوكلي
ASSayâdo aSSaghîr الصياد الصغير
Siwaro al3asal سوار العسل
Arraghif al3ajib الرغيف العجيب
7ikâyato al3amâliqa حكاية العمالقة
Moghâmarâto sonbol مغامرات سنبل
Alfawâkih الفواكه
Moghâmarâto 7anîn مغامرات حنين
La7no al7ayât لحن الحياة
Reemy ريمي and the song Anti Al2amân
Arramyato almoltahiba الرمية الملتهبة
Marôkô aSSaghîra ماروكو الصغيرة
Madrasto Alkung fu مدرسة الكونغ فو
Simba سيمبا
Almo7aqqiq Conan المحقق كونان
Pokemon بوكمون
AbTâlo addijitâl أبطال الديجيتال
Anâ wa akhî أنا و أخي
Moghâmarât Sasuki مغامرات سازوكي
Moghâmarât kôkî مغامرات كوكي
Safînato al-2aSdiqâ2 سفينة الأصدقاء
Assayyida mil3aqa السيدة ملعقة
Ka3bôl كعبول
Ri7lat al3ajâ2ib رحلة العجائب
Ra3d al3imlâq رعد العملاق
AlbaTal khomâsî البطل خماسي
Fâris alfatâ ash-shojâ3 فارس الفتى الشجاع
Al2a7lâm adh-dhahabiyya الأحلام الذهبية

Bonus Video:
Moghâmarât Abî l7orôf مغامرات أبي الحروف

Portugal has an interesting name in Moroccan Darija. It’s lbrtqîz لبرتقيز! You read it right (if you could!). It sounds so much similar to the English word: Portuguese. When I first heard this brtqîz word, it took me a while to realize what country that was, as it’s different that the MSA version, that is al-bortoghâl البرتغال.

Mostly, countries are called in Darija like in MSA, with less vowels or a pronunciation difference:

Morocco: lmghrib لمغرب in Darija, al-maghrib المغرب in MSA.
France : Fransâ فْرنسا in Darija, faransa فَرَنسا in MSA.
Switzerland: swîsra سويسرا in Darija, likewise in MSA.
Egypt: MiSr مصر in Darija, likewise in MSA.
India: lhnd لْهْنْد in Darija, al-hind الهند in MSA.
Australia: Ustrâlyâ أستراليا in Darija, likewise in MSA.

Here are examples of countries that have different names in Darija than MSA:

China : sh-shînwâ الشّينوا in Darija, aSSîn الصين in MSA.
Italy: TTâlyân الطاليان in Darija, iTâlyâ إيطاليا in MSA.
Germany: lalmân لالْمان in Darija, almânyâ ألمانيا in MSA.
United States of America: Shortened to America, lmîrîkân لْميريكان in Darija, Amrîkâ أمريكا in MSA.
Spain : sbânyâ سْبانيا or SSblyôn الصبليون in Darija, isbânyâ إِسبانيا in MSA.