# All dialects: cockroach



## Hemza

Hello,

How do you call cockroach in your dialect(s)?

In Morocco, they're called بودرع in my area (owner of shield  ) but I think Western Moroccans call it سراق الزيت

In Hijazi, I think it's صرصور.

I ask for this word because I think we may find funny expressions to call this lodger.


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## elroy

صرصور in Palestinian.


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## Haroon

صرصار in EA


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## Hemza

Thanks . No funny surnames for them in your countries?


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## djara

گرَلُّو grallu in Tunisian, maybe from Spanish grillo, a similar insect


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## al-sirbi

I'm not totally sure, but I think in Libyan is something that sounds like "zingarillo". From Italian, I suppose.

Or it was "grillo", maybe I didn't hear well enough  cricket - Dizionario inglese-italiano WordReference


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## Zoghbi

djara said:


> گرَلُّو grallu in Tunisian, maybe from Spanish grillo, a similar insect



Same in Algeria.


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## barkoosh

elroy said:


> صرصور in Palestinian.


Same in Lebanese.


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## Golden-Rose

elroy said:


> صرصور in Palestinian.



Same in Syrian.


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## Hemza

Thank you all for your input. As for صرصار/صرصور, does this name come from the same roots as the verb صرصر? We use صرصر (مصدر: صرصار) in Morocco to means "to screech" or to speak about a screeching noise or an unbearable sound.
But what would be the link between a noise and cockroaches?  صرصور could also be "cicada", a noisy insect?

Is صرصر (the verb) used in this same way in Algeria/Tunisia/Libya as it is in Morocco?



djara said:


> گرَلُّو grallu in Tunisian, maybe from Spanish grillo, a similar insect





al-sarbi said:


> I'm not totally sure, but I think in Libyan is something that sounds like "zingarillo". From Italian, I suppose.
> 
> Or it was "grillo", maybe I didn't hear well enough  cricket - Dizionario inglese-italiano WordReference





Zoghbi said:


> Same in Algeria.



It looks like the French "grillon" but it's a different insect. So are both insects confused in Algeria/Tunisia/Libya?


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> Thank you all for your input. As for صرصار/صرصور, does this name come from the same roots as the verb صرصر?



Ultimately, yes. But in dialects it comes from the fus7a صُرصُر, which comes from the verb صَرْصَرَ.

By the way, in Iraq it's called صرصر, when I used صرصور in Iraq they laughed at me and said "what! are you giving it a pet name or something?"


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## Hemza

Mahaodeh said:


> Ultimately, yes. But in dialects it comes from the fus7a صُرصُر, which comes from the verb صَرْصَرَ.



Thank you. What is the link between صرصر (the verb) and صرصر (the insect)? Do you know it?


> By the way, in Iraq it's called صرصر, when I used صرصور in Iraq they laughed at me and said "what! are you giving it a pet name or something?"


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## tounsi51

djara said:


> گرَلُّو grallu in Tunisian, maybe from Spanish grillo, a similar insect



Do we say "gargallou" as well in Tunisia?


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## djara

tounsi51 said:


> Do we say "gargallou" as well in Tunisia?


Never heard this word


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## tounsi51

djara said:


> Never heard this word



And ga3lallou?


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## Hemza

tounsi51 said:


> And ga3lallou?



تصغير ممكن like صرصور in Iraq?


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## Zoghbi

> Is صرصر (the verb) used in this same way in Algeria/Tunisia/Libya as it is in Morocco?



The meaning in my dialect is related to cold.
برد صرصار or برد يصرصر: a very cold  weather.


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## djara

tounsi51 said:


> And ga3lallou?


I know the word exists, as well as ga3lul (also a surname!), but I honestly don't know what it refers to. Maybe it's regional for grallu?


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> Thank you. What is the link between صرصر (the verb) and صرصر (the insect)? Do you know it?



Interesting, I just made the assumption that it is clear, but it actually is not. I checked out a few dictionaries. Both صرصر and صرصور have been mentioned in classical dictionaries, but the only definition was دويبة تصرّ في الليل أو الدويبة المعروفة أو معروف. It's something you can find quite commonly in these dictionaries for what the author deems to be known by all - and to us it's quite frustrating.

Anyhow, my guess is that either the word was originally used to refer to the cricket (which makes a squeaking sound at night) and was later extended to include the cockroach, or originally Arabs did not distinguish between the cricket and the cockroach (just as they don't distinguish between the pig, the hog, and the swine for example).



Zoghbi said:


> The meaning in my dialect is related to cold.
> برد صرصار or برد يصرصر: a very cold weather.



Well, it's also from classical Arabic.


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## I.K.S.

Mahaodeh said:


> Anyhow, my guess is that either the word was originally used to refer to the cricket (which makes a squeaking sound at night) and was later extended to include the cockroach,


I think so .the ancient arab habitats (which were mostly rural) and daily life pattern must have probably been more associated with the Field crickets and their squeaking sounds than the cockroaches.


Zoghbi said:


> The meaning in my dialect is related to cold.
> برد صرصار or برد يصرصر: a very cold weather.


we also use the expression كاين الصر to mean a freezing cold temperature .


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## Hemza

Mahaodeh said:


> Anyhow, my guess is that either the word was originally used to refer to the cricket (which makes a squeaking sound at night) and was later extended to include the cockroach, or originally Arabs did not distinguish between the cricket and the cockroach (just as they don't distinguish between the pig, the hog, and the swine for example).





إتحادية قبائل الشاوية said:


> I think so .the ancient arab habitats (which were mostly rural) and daily life pattern must have probably been more associated with the Field crickets and their squeaking sounds than the cockroaches



That's also why I quoted cicada, but cricket too are noisy sometimes.


إتحادية قبائل الشاوية said:


> we also use the expression كاين الصر to mean a freezing cold temperature .



Interesting, I ignored this


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## Polyglot 2b

As-Salaamu alaikum
Hello

In Benghazi, Libya cockroaches are also known as Sarsoor/Saraseer but are commonly referred to as 'bushiboo'/'bushibuaat'


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## Hemza

وعليكم السلام ومرحبا بك  .

شكرا على اضافتك المفيدة.


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## Polyglot 2b

Afwan

السلام عليكم

Actually in Tripoli, Libya, cockroaches are commonly called 'zagrillo'.


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## Ghabi

Hemza said:


> I think Western Moroccans call it سراق الزيت


There's an almost exact equivalent in some Chinese dialects:

偷油婆 - Wiktionary


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## WadiH

We call it صارور (plural صوارير).


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## Hemza

Ghabi said:


> There's an almost exact equivalent in some Chinese dialects


Amazing!! That may be for the same reason then.

I misspelt how we call it: بو دارع (and not درع). I still must look for its etymology though.


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## tounsi51

Sometimes in Tunisia we call a cockroach by a general name خَنْفُوسْة instead of grillou


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## Hemza

خنفوسة in Morocco means "beetle" only.


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