# Boy, be off with you!: The Manual of Egyptian Arabic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764 "2013-02-09T05:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/1 "2013-02-09T05:00:13Z")
An acquaintance clued me in to the existence of this book, _The Manual of Egyptian Arabic_, an English-Arabic phrasebook from 1926 meant for young men of the Empire who might be touring around Cairo. What you will find within its pages is quite amazing, and it’s well-worth hunting down in a secondhand shop or on Ebay. I am determined to buy this monkey. Both of them squint and three of their children are deaf mutes. As a rule criminals are from the lower classes. I’m accustomed to smoke opium. The hypocrisy of these Jews is beyond belief. They practise female infanticide. By the way, if you ever need to say the title phrase, “Boy, be off with you!” the Arabic is apparently _Ya walad imshi, ijri!_ ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/2 "2013-02-09T07:39:42Z")
Perfect! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/3 "2013-02-09T15:32:50Z")
“My hovercraft is full of eels.” Surely this must have been a joke, even if it was a real phrase book. Right? Is the author Psmith? ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/4 "2013-02-09T20:58:48Z")
Did it have “ما تتفزعش” printed in large friendly letters on its cover? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/5 "2013-02-10T16:08:15Z")
Those are hilarious but unfortunately illustrative of the times. Is this it?: [Manual of Egyptian Arabic - Douglas Craven Phillott - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books/about/Manual_of_Egyptian_Arabic.html?id=FkU0AAAAIAAJ) ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/6 "2013-02-11T19:55:31Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Did it have “ما تتفزعش” printed in large friendly letters on its cover? I’m going to guess. How to Serve Mankind? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/7 "2013-02-11T20:02:47Z")
I suspect it’s Don’t Panic ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/8 "2013-02-11T20:54:16Z")
“Don’t be afraid, son”? As in, “Wouldn’t you like to have some candy with me inside my van over there?” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/9 "2013-02-11T21:09:50Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Those are hilarious but unfortunately illustrative of the times. Well, only 3 & 6 were ever likely to be _said_ by a British bureaucrat, prolly in reports. He wouldn’t be likely to cop to using opium just then, when the League of Nations was hotting up hysteria over drugs; 1875, yeah: few would care if a gentleman indulged. All were so the English speaker could understand what the _fellahs_ were babbling about when he or she left the safety of Shepheards… The iniquity of Jews and honest discussions of crime were ever a staple of the lower classes’ fervid imaginations. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/10 "2013-02-11T21:12:38Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Did it have “ما تتفزعش” printed in large friendly letters on its cover? Inshallah. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/11 "2013-02-11T22:10:32Z")
Does it translate the phrase, “Woman, wilt thou lie with me?” ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-be-off-with-you-the-manual-of-egyptian-arabic/649764/12 "2013-02-12T01:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] I suspect it’s… [/QUOTE] Ding! Ding! Ding! Give that man a Pan-Galactic Gargle-Blaster!