try this mnemonic to recall this phrase when needed:
A toilet brush chases the snake, flying over a pillow, into the quivering bird while the rat and grilled fish watch.
cartomancersays
It’s saying things like that to my beloved that is the reason he hasn’t spoken to me for over a year now. Apparently there are different standards when your love is unrequited. Deeply unfair if you ask me.
What if it’s a typo and they really said “how beautiful are your bullocks”?
I suppose they have mapped Egyptian hieroglyphs so well that mistakes like that no longer happen.
brightmoonsays
I had a neighbor as a kid who’s name was Nofret or Nofred. It means beautiful or in his case handsome. They were Egyptian
Will that get a more positive reaction than the line I’ve been using?
Currently, I’m going with, “Truly, yours is a butt that won’t quit!” delivered in a haughty tone with some dramatic gesticulations.
ionopachyssays
Are you sure it’s gender neutral? Egyptian was a gendered language.
StevoRsays
Classic! ;-)
Or maybe protoclassic given the era I guess?
@ 8. ionopachys : It was? Okay did not know that. Thanks.
lasiussays
@8 ionopachys
In this case it is since a more literal translation would be
“What a nice ass”
There are no pronouns or adjectives referring to a person in the sentence.
John Moralessays
[esoterica]
In English English — and Australian English, for that matter — an ‘arse’ refers to buttocks and an ‘ass’ refers to… an ass.
Mind you, English English does use ‘ass’ for a, um, incompetent person.
A donkey.
(In Oz, a ‘donk’ is slang for the engine of a car)
Badmoonraisin got it right. Others? Well, for certain dialects, I suppose they did.
John Moralessays
[PS]
feralboy12, a ‘butt’ is the stub of a cigarette (or the end of a log) whereas in some places whereas in other places (ahem) it’s a ‘bum’. Not referring to an indigent, either.
(Ah, translations)
John Moralessays
[ah, editing errors]
chigau (違う)says
If we didn’t have any cigarettes, we used to “bum” one from someone who did.
I think the phrase is:
oar, horned viper, mouth, quail chick, two diagonal strokes, hind quarters of a lion, basket with right handle, two diagonal strokes
Using my handy “Up Pompeii” translator, I think it means something like this:
Oh er, missus, your asp is making me very horny, I must say, can I stroke your little chickadee? I’d like to lie by your hind quarters and handle them right enough and give them a couple of strokes and all.
birgerjohanssonsays
I have heard of this before. Wasn’t this a god speaking to someone? I forgot which god, the Egyptians had a lot.
.
And speaking of gods, I am reading the latest novel in the “Rivers of London ” series.
The author is very inclusive, with every aspect of LBGTQ included among the characters.
Larry says
try this mnemonic to recall this phrase when needed:
A toilet brush chases the snake, flying over a pillow, into the quivering bird while the rat and grilled fish watch.
cartomancer says
It’s saying things like that to my beloved that is the reason he hasn’t spoken to me for over a year now. Apparently there are different standards when your love is unrequited. Deeply unfair if you ask me.
Ray Ceeya says
Great, now we need to figure out which apostles and saints were gay.
lasius says
@2 Cartomancer
The modern Egyptiological pronunciation would be
/nɛfɛr wi pɛħuːi kiː/
Or for English pronunciation, roughly: “nefer wee pekhooee kee”.
Marcus Ranum says
What if it’s a typo and they really said “how beautiful are your bullocks”?
I suppose they have mapped Egyptian hieroglyphs so well that mistakes like that no longer happen.
brightmoon says
I had a neighbor as a kid who’s name was Nofret or Nofred. It means beautiful or in his case handsome. They were Egyptian
feralboy12 says
Will that get a more positive reaction than the line I’ve been using?
Currently, I’m going with, “Truly, yours is a butt that won’t quit!” delivered in a haughty tone with some dramatic gesticulations.
ionopachys says
Are you sure it’s gender neutral? Egyptian was a gendered language.
StevoR says
Classic! ;-)
Or maybe protoclassic given the era I guess?
@ 8. ionopachys : It was? Okay did not know that. Thanks.
lasius says
@8 ionopachys
In this case it is since a more literal translation would be
“What a nice ass”
There are no pronouns or adjectives referring to a person in the sentence.
John Morales says
[esoterica]
In English English — and Australian English, for that matter — an ‘arse’ refers to buttocks and an ‘ass’ refers to… an ass.
Mind you, English English does use ‘ass’ for a, um, incompetent person.
A donkey.
(In Oz, a ‘donk’ is slang for the engine of a car)
Badmoonraisin got it right. Others? Well, for certain dialects, I suppose they did.
John Morales says
[PS]
feralboy12, a ‘butt’ is the stub of a cigarette (or the end of a log) whereas in some places whereas in other places (ahem) it’s a ‘bum’. Not referring to an indigent, either.
(Ah, translations)
John Morales says
[ah, editing errors]
chigau (違う) says
If we didn’t have any cigarettes, we used to “bum” one from someone who did.
jd142 says
Because I am me, I had to go and find a font and type this up. https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/fonts/newgardiner.html and https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/unicode/tablemain.html are really good ways to waste an afternoon.
I think the phrase is:
oar, horned viper, mouth, quail chick, two diagonal strokes, hind quarters of a lion, basket with right handle, two diagonal strokes
Using my handy “Up Pompeii” translator, I think it means something like this:
Oh er, missus, your asp is making me very horny, I must say, can I stroke your little chickadee? I’d like to lie by your hind quarters and handle them right enough and give them a couple of strokes and all.
birgerjohansson says
I have heard of this before. Wasn’t this a god speaking to someone? I forgot which god, the Egyptians had a lot.
.
And speaking of gods, I am reading the latest novel in the “Rivers of London ” series.
The author is very inclusive, with every aspect of LBGTQ included among the characters.
Pierce R. Butler says
Oh Calcutta!
John Morales says
Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Callipyge