# All dialects: thief



## Hemza

Hello,

How do you call a thief across the dialects? I know two words used in Morocco
سرّاق (the one I'm used to)
شفّار (originally it means blade maker though now it means thief. I think this one is more used in the West of Morocco).

Thank you.


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## tounsi51

In TA we say سارق


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## gbasfora

In palestine : *حراميّ*


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## Mahaodeh

حرامي is the word in all Levantine dialects up to my knowledge. It’s also the word in Iraqi Arabic.


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## Hemza

The verb حرّم is used in Morocco to mean "to deprive somebody of something".


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## akhooha

Mahaodeh said:


> حرامي is the word in all Levantine dialects up to my knowledge. It’s also the word in Iraqi Arabic.


also Egyptian Arabic


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> The verb حرّم is used in Morocco to mean "to deprive somebody of something".


It’s also used in that sense in Levantine and Iraqi, except that there no تشديد.


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## Hemza

I asked my mum who told me that حرامي in Morocco is used but it means someone who tricks and fools people or it is also a synonym of ولد/ابن الحرام.

Edit: I just remembered in the West of Morocco, سرّاق الزيت means cockroach and I have no idea why they call it this way there .


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## tarik45

Hemza said:


> How do you call a thief across the dialects? I know two words used in Morocco
> سرّاق (the one I'm used to)
> شفّار (originally it means blade maker though now it means thief. I think this one is more used in the West of Morocco).


In North Morocco we mainly use the word شفار. I don't understand the etymology you mentioned. What does a blade maker have to do with a thief?



Hemza said:


> Edit: I just remembered in the West of Morocco, سرّاق الزيت means cockroach and I have no idea why they call it this way there .


We also say ''سرّاق الزيت" for cockroach in the North. But from your comment I understand that this is not the case in Fes?

Fun fact: The reason why is that in places where oil was stored (like basements or kitchens), people would often find cockroaches. So I think people just tried to be funny, or seriously believed, that cockroaches stole oil.


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## I.K.S.

Hemza said:


> I asked my mum who told me that حرامي in Morocco is used but it means someone who tricks and fools people or it is also a synonym of ولد/ابن الحرام


I was about to tell you that, the latter meaning is the original one_ it was an insult_ the first meaning is a metaphor.


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## Hemza

tarik45 said:


> In North Morocco we mainly use the word شفار. I don't understand the etymology you mentioned. What does a blade maker have to do with a thief?


شفرة in Standard Arabic means blade and a شفّار is someone who make them (like نجّار and other job names).


tarik45 said:


> We also say ''سرّاق الزيت" for cockroach in the North. But from your comment I understand that this is not the case in Fes?


I didn't know you also use it, I thought you say like us!
All dialects: cockroach


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## HoopoeOfHope

In Kuwait, a thief is called حرامي or بوّاق (from the verb باق which means "steal").


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## fenakhay

tarik45 said:


> In North Morocco we mainly use the word شفار. I don't understand the etymology you mentioned. What does a blade maker have to do with a thief?


A root was derived from the noun شفرة, hence the agent noun شفّار (lit. one who uses a blade).


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## tarik45

Hemza said:


> شفرة in Standard Arabic means blade and a شفّار is someone who make them (like نجّار and other job names).


I meant that if it means someone who makes them, it wouldn't make sense to me. Why would he be called a thief?. But Fenakhay mentioned it can also mean someone who uses a blade, and that would make sense to me.



Hemza said:


> I didn't know you also use it, I thought you say like us!
> All dialects: cockroach


Thank you, I've never heard that before. I thought everyone said سراق الزيت except for the East (Oujda, Berkane).


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## Hemza

tarik45 said:


> I meant that if it means someone who makes them, it wouldn't make sense to me. Why would he be called a thief?. But Fenakhay mentioned it can also mean someone who uses a blade, and that would make sense to me.


Sorry I didn't mean to explain how the shift occurred and why, my point was conscripted to the origin of the word.


tarik45 said:


> Thank you, I've never heard that before. I thought everyone said سراق الزيت except for the East (Oujda, Berkane).


And me, I've never heard سرّاق الزيت before setting a foot in الدار البيضاء  (but I've never spent more than a month per year in Morocco so I'm not exposed to people speech on a daily basis).


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## Hemza

In the South of Morocco and Mauritania, it is sometimes pronounced سريرق (sreyreg).


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## tarik45

Hemza said:


> And me, I've never heard سرّاق الزيت before setting a foot in الدار البيضاء  (but I've never spent more than a month per year in Morocco so I'm not exposed to people speech on a daily basis).


Interesting. This year was my first time in Casablanca, the only thing I noticed is that they are used to a lot more French than we are in the North. We barely use any French.


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