The Police Inspector of Algiers- You’ve just arrived from Paris, Commissioner. You’re not familiar with the Casbah. The Commissioner- Casbah? What’s that? Some kind of nut? Police Inspector- A very hard nut to crack. You see, Pépé le Moko lives in the Casbah.
-Algiers (1938), Hollywood remake of Pépé le Moko (1937)
A hard nut to crack? On the contrary, an ear very soft, the one you only want to squeeze. Wehr gives the translation of Earlobe as Shahma al-Adhan, literally Fat of the Ear. Lane gives the secondary meaning of Shahma as A Game Played by Arab Children in the Desert. One child playing with another. Listen to the Casbah, whisper into Pépé’s ear.
