Beans Were an Ancient Egyptian Emblem of Death | Hacker News Reader

Beans Were an Ancient Egyptian Emblem of Death

atlasobscura.com

43 pointssmollett17 comments

this relates to one of my favorite hidden fart jokes in capital-L Literature.

from Moby Dick,

For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so.

English is my second language, but couldn't this just mean that the sailors inhale and exhale the air first, before it reaches the quarter deck? It talks about "breathing it first", but you don't fart out air you've breathed in, it's gas from the digestive system.

And once again, Moby Dick is proven to be a disappointment.

That's most of it, but note the mention of the "Pythagorean maxim". The fart joke is an aside, not the main thrust of the passage.

Ah, I see. Thanks!

What's the "Pythagorean maxim"?

Don't eat beans

> head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim)

Translation: Winds from the front are more common than winds from behind (that is, if you don't eat beans)

Shakespeare was pretty bawdy too. Fart jokes, yo mama jokes etc.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/154225-shakespeares-dirtiest...

oh, absolutely. So many good ones, too.

i’m still vaguely angry at the victorians for trying to retcon all the humanity out of history by stripping out all the “naughty” bits. Life’s a rich pageant and it’s important to remember that humans have pretty much always been entertained by a good fart gag.

The pesky house sparrow was also the hieroglyph for misfortune. The nearly identical swallow hieroglyph meant good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow_(hieroglyph)

This reminded me of an article I read about the "Pythagorean" diet which not only excluded meat but also beans. Can't find the exact citation but summary with https://brooklynbrainery.com/blog/pythagoras-the-superior-ve... content here:

TIL Favism.

Is there a way I can filter out posts like this? I go to HackerNews to avoid the meaningless buzz posts of Reddit, while everyday it feels more like it.

You may be interested in using http://hnapp.com/ to set up a custom filter. It can create an RSS feed with your custom filter.

I use a technique where I don't click on the posts that don't interest me.

You can click "hide" on individual posts that aren't to your taste.

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