Today’s Darija word is jbha جبهة , that’s read as jabha in classical Arabic, and it means forehead.

jbha: Undefined feminine singular.
jjbha: Defined feminine singular.
jbâhî: Undefined feminine plural.
jjbâhî: Defined feminine plural.

Jbha has also another meaning. When you say that a person is really jbha, or “3ndo jjbha” (has it) عندو الجبهة that means that they are very bold. Like… really bold! You’d complain saying “mâ 3ndîsh jjbha” ” ما عنديش الجبهة “, (I have no forehead) meaning that you’re kind of shy. This word can also be used in Darija as an insult, when you mean that boldness turned into a saucy behaviour.

I have no apparent explanation for linking boldness to this part of your face, the forehead. Seriously I have no explanation, and I don’t think that you can find one neither.

Did you know?

In the Rif mountains, in the district Mtiwa that is part of Chefchaouen, in Northern Morocco; there is a little port town that is called El Jebha. [The way cities names are spelt sometimes – the French way – doesn’t respect any Arabic rules. J is a solar letter, and it can’t be associated to El. The L disappears and gives place to double J, as I explained before]. (Definite articles)

But why does this port have such a name?

“The name of the town is based on its location at the foot of a set of mountains. El Jebha is the Arabic equivalent of ‘forehead’; the mountains that surround El Jebha stand out as if the town is the forehead of a chain of mountains. Hence, the name El Jebha.” [Wikipedia]