# Drop-dead gorgeous!



## Andrew___

Hi guys,

I have a few questions regarding the topic of drop-dead gorgeous people.  

1.  Can the phrase in the Egyptian dialect "zay el-qamr el-arbat3ashr" be used in fuSHa as:
 مثل القمر الأربعة عشر

2.  Can this phrase apply to both a man or a woman?

3.  Is the word مزة (muzza) used only in Egyptian dialect, or in other dialects too?

Andrew


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## Mahaodeh

1. My understanding is that it is زي قمر أربعتاشر and in fus7a it would be مثل قمر أربعة عشر; you don't need the ال التعريف.

2. Technically, yes; but the use is mostly for women, it's like using مها to refer to a beautiful women, using it for a man may (at least this is how I feel) imply that the man is "girly".

3. I can't say for Egyptian, but in Iraq it is used; by the way it is mazza (with a fat7a) not muzza.

Just a note, in Iraq they have a counter phrase for مثل قمر اربعطعش (in the Iraqi dialect), which is مثل القمر آخر الشهر (mithil il-gumar akhr ash-shahar), I've never heard it used elswhere though.


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## gusfand

It seems to me that "مها" will be worth a post in the etymology forum because it reminds me strongly of the spanish "maja".
But first I'd like to know:
- is it pronounced mahaa?
- is it used like the spanish "maja" in such a way you could moderately tell a woman she's beautiful, that is without being compromising?
- is it egyptian?


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## Yurub

كالقمر في ليلة بدر
or
كالبدر
in FusHa you may use it for both male and female,but i dont know for Egyptian ( I join Maha ).


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## cherine

Al Sulhafa said:


> 1. Can the phrase in the Egyptian dialect "zay el-qamr el-arbat3ashr" be used in fuSHa as:
> مثل القمر الأربعة عشر


As Maha said, the "al" is not correct here. We say زي قمر أربعتاشر zayy(e) amar arba3taashar.


> 2. Can this phrase apply to both a man or a woman?


Technically, yes. Culturally, it's better not to call a man amar arba3taashar, because it would sound as if he's a bit ...ummm.... too cute? well, less manly  

Generally, the 14 is getting less and less used, and we just say zayyel2amar, you can stress on "amar" for more confirmation of how beautiful the person is 
And we sometimes also drop the زي and just say بنت قمر، ولد قمر . And there's of course ammuur/ammuura قمور/قمورة or أمور/أمورة 


> 3. Is the word مزة (muzza) used only in Egyptian dialect, or in other dialects too?


The word mozza used to be considered inappropriate, but it's getting more and more used these days. It's even got its masculine form: mozz مُزّ .
When we say that a girl/woman is mozza it refers more to the beauty of her body than that of her face. But it can be taken as a reference to a "general" beauty (i.e. body *and* face). A واد مُز (usually waad not walad) is a cute kid, a handsome face.



Mahaodeh said:


> 3. I can't say for Egyptian, but in Iraq it is used; by the way it is mazza (with a fat7a) not muzza.


Really?! In Egypt, mazza is the stuff eaten with alcoholic drinks. I don't know what that stuff is exactly (I don't drink) but it's usually مكسرات like peanuts and the like.



gusfand said:


> It seems to me that "مها" will be worth a post in the etymology forum because it reminds me strongly of the spanish "maja".
> But first I'd like to know:
> - is it pronounced mahaa?


Yes, and also maha (no "a" is longer than the other).


> is it used like the spanish "maja" in such a way you could moderately tell a woman she's beautiful, that is without being compromising?
> - is it egyptian?


 No, it's not Egyptian. I don't know if it's used in any colloquial Arabic, but it's more of a poetry registry. Usually referring to the eyes عيون المها for big dark charming eyes. Many girls are named Maha مها .


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## Andrew___

cherine said:


> Technically, yes. Culturally, it's better not to call a man amar arba3taashar, because it would sound as if he's a bit ...ummm.... too cute? well, less manly



I'm not doubting your view, although I would like to add that Disney applies the phrase to men without seeming to imply less manliness.   See for example the song "Gospel Truth" from the film Hercules.

Andrew


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## cherine

I'm sorry I forgot to add a very important information: it's getting more and more common to call a man "amar", "ammuur", "mozz", "cute".... all the adjectives that used to be unthinkable and almost offensive. It's maybe a generation think  Old people like me were taught that we call a girl beautiful جميلة (and synonyms) and a man handsome وسيم (and nothing else).
Now things are changing. Words, values, thoughts... :sigh:


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## Josh_

I can say that I was called 'amar' and 'ammuur' a time or two when I was in Egypt, not that I'm all that handsome, though.

And thanks for teaching me a new word guys.  I had never heard of مز before.


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## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> And we sometimes also drop the زي and just say بنت قمر، ولد قمر . And there's of course ammuur/ammuura قمور/قمورة or أمور/أمورة


 
Yes, I forgot that, without the 14 thing it works for both girls and boys.



cherine said:


> Really?! In Egypt, mazza is the stuff eaten with alcoholic drinks. I don't know what that stuff is exactly (I don't drink) but it's usually مكسرات like peanuts and the like.


 
Oh, I was talking about that mazza (with alcohol) too - I had no idea that there is anything called muzza, nice to learn a new word .


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## suma

It could be said of a very attrative man, _*"he was so gorgeous I slit my wrist."*_ Maybe that's where the drop-dead expression comes from?
Also I think of surah Yusuf in the Quran.


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## Andrew___

Josh_ said:


> I can say that I was called 'amar' and 'ammuur' a time or two when I was in Egypt, not that I'm all that handsome, though.



May I ask, is this word "ammuur" identical to "amar" in meaning in the Egyptian dialect?


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## cherine

More or less, yes. But maybe ammuur is a sort of diminutive (even if we don't think much about it as such) which denotes an even cuter face.


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## Andrew___

Mahaodeh said:


> Oh, I was talking about that mazza (with alcohol) too - I had no idea that there is anything called muzza, nice to learn a new word .



I see.  

So if some guests came to the house, and there were some peanuts on the table that I would like to serve them, could I say:

تفضل المزة دي (tafaDDal el mazza di).  Laziiz awiy!

Does this work?


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## cherine

Only if you're serving alcohol with it (at least in what concerns Egypt/Egyptians). We call these mekassaraat مكسرات .

Usually, when you invite people to eat something you don't have to name it, a simple "etfaDDal(i/u)" is enough.


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## WadiH

One expression from the Gulf that you can use is: تطيح الطيور من السما (t6ayye7 e66yoor mniss*i*ma -- or mn*i*ssima).

By the way, I wouldn't recommend using the word مزّة in polite company, despite what Cherine said.


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## cherine

I wouldn't recommend it either.


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## ayed

In UAE dialect,  a pretty beautiful girl is called" _*Ghirshoob*_"


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