# Egyptian Language Question from Piper Cub: "Mummy" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547 "2016-10-23T23:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/21 "2016-10-24T20:37:24Z")
Budge - First Steps in Egyptian can be found [here](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000981831) if you want to have fun. I was the only person that borrowed this from the Rochester NY Public Library system since 1930 something … back when I was 8 years old. I had a blast. It got so I could transliterate pretty much any inscription from hieroglyphs into the English alphabet, and had about a 900 word vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/22 "2016-10-24T21:10:37Z")
OK - I didn’t read the question properly and thought the OP was interested in the mummy/mother and mummy/ancient-method-of-preserving-bodies similarity. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/23 "2016-10-24T22:07:09Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I’ll assume you’re kidding, because the only thing referenced was the english word for egyptian mummies. Nowhere was the **British** “mummy” or the **English** “mommy” mentioned. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I guess I have trouble with why anyone would think it was about the Britishism “mummy” for “mommy” (Americanism). See bolded. I imagine it’s similar to your own assumption that “English” would naturally be understood as meaning “American English”. We all inevitably bring our own unspoken biases to these discussions, and sometimes they lead us astray. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/24 "2016-10-24T23:42:25Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > (most Semitic languages like Egyptian don’t write the vowels, so we don’t always know the exact pronunciation). Egyptian was not semitic. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/25 "2016-10-24T23:57:25Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > See bolded. I imagine it’s similar to your own assumption that “English” would naturally be understood as meaning “American English”. We all inevitably bring our own unspoken biases to these discussions, and sometimes they lead us astray. It’s not about assumptions. I was using English to mean American (and other English speaking countries that do not say mummy) English on purpose to reflect the terms used in the OP while clarifying that Mummy (mother) was a Britishism version of the word. Tossing in American I thought would confuse matters more. Anyway, reading the very next sentence of the OP would make it crystal clear. I don’t think it’s a big deal someone read quickly and misread the OP, happens all the time. It’s the justification that it’s reasonable and not and error I find amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/26 "2016-10-25T01:05:03Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Well, now I want to know! _Mut_. Their kingdom was “_kemet netjer_”- the beautiful land or “black land” (from the Nile flooding that made it fertile). “Egypt” came from a Greek misunderstanding of the name of Thebes. The red desert around the Nile region was known as “red land” or… _desert_. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/27 "2016-10-25T01:47:13Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It’s not about assumptions. I was using English to mean American (and other English speaking countries that do not say mummy) English on purpose to reflect the terms used in the OP while clarifying that Mummy (mother) was a Britishism version of the word. Tossing in American I thought would confuse matters more. But why would you think that? Why would you assume that American usage is the standard for the English language? Think about it from my point of view: as an Englishman, speaking British English in England, I can’t help thinking that the fact that you feel that “tossing in American” is optional, is, in fact, an assumption. And I’ve never called my mother “Mummy” in my life (or “Mommy”, for that matter). All of which is beside my original point, which was that it’s easier to understand how someone might misread a post if we remember that we’re not all approaching it from the same starting point. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/28 "2016-10-25T10:01:13Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It’s not about assumptions. I was using English to mean American (and other English speaking countries that do not say mummy) English on purpose to reflect the terms used in the OP while clarifying that Mummy (mother) was a Britishism version of the word. Tossing in American I thought would confuse matters more. > > Anyway, reading the very next sentence of the OP would make it crystal clear. I don’t think it’s a big deal someone read quickly and misread the OP, happens all the time. It’s the justification that it’s reasonable and not and error I find amusing. I was also a little confused by the OP. They used the word “Mummy” in hangman and then OP mentioned it is an English word. At this point I’m thinking it was meant to be Mommy and the OP was nicely informing the Cub that they’ve used the English version of the word rather than the American. Then they bring up Egyptian mummies and I’m not sure if that means the first “mummy” was referring to an Egyptian mummy as well or if it was just the conversation getting sidetracked. You see, I speak English and say “Mum”, you lot speak American and say “Mom”! And if it was a word peculiar to Australia I’d say I was speaking Australian. Clear as mud. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/29 "2016-10-25T10:34:00Z")
Oh dear - after all this, I’ve got to go outside for a fag, because I’m not allowed to smoke indoors ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/30 "2016-10-25T19:59:34Z")
It was a **Halloween themed** game, of course “mummy” referred the Egyptian dead wrapped bodies kind. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/31 "2016-10-25T20:07:53Z")
I flew a Piper Cub once. Not like [this](https://www.cardcow.com/images/set504/card00065_fr.jpg) though. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/32 "2016-10-26T13:56:17Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > It was a **Halloween themed** game, of course “mummy” referred the Egyptian dead wrapped bodies kind. :rolleyes: Ding! **Eyebrows 0f Doom** wins the prize for full nuance-picking-up-ness! I love you all, but sheesh -talk about over-analysing…. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/33 "2016-10-26T14:05:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I love you all, but sheesh -talk about over-analysing…. 🙂 It’s what we do best! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/34 "2016-10-26T15:00:58Z")
I can see where the confusion arose, because it happened to me while I was reading the OP - a full reading of the post resulted in proper comprehension of the question, but there was a bit in the middle where I was uncertain as to whether the word for ‘mother’ was in the mix - it was like this: “We were playing a Hallowe’en themed hangman game today and the Cub used “mummy”.” - **No confusion yet** "I mentioned that “mummy” is an English word. " \*\* - ‘English’ as opposed to what? (obviously with full hindsight the right answer is Egyptian, but at this point, my English brain was still permitting scope scope for confusion as to whether this clause meant 'English ‘mummy’, not American ‘mommy’)\*\* "Then he asked, "Daddy, what did the Egyptians call ‘mummies’ ? “” **- the juxtaposition of ‘Daddy’ and ‘mummies’ in this sentence, although coincidental and just part of the narrative, is another potential trigger, especially to someone reading fast.** “I told him I did not know, but I would ask my imaginary internet friends. 🙂 So, what was the word an ancient Egyptian would use to refer to a mummy?”\*\* - This part resolved any remaining confusion, but that only works only if you read this far before mentally starting to compose your answer.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/35 "2016-10-26T18:39:31Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > _Mut_. (Pronounced “moot,” not “mutt,” but probably everybody knows that already.) > [@](#): > > “Egypt” came from a Greek misunderstanding of the name of Thebes. Not Thebes. Memphis. Memphis itself was nicknamed after its big temple complex of Ptaḥ: Hwt-K3-Ptḥ or Ḥawit-Ku’-Ptaḥ. (Greek Aigyptos) “Memphis! Did I forget to mention Memphis? Home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks.” Sorry, David: ancient Egyptians. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/36 "2016-10-26T20:42:17Z")
N/m ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/37 "2016-10-26T21:32:53Z")
Quoting not working, but yes, Memphis. Not psure how I ended up in Thebes. Must have pslept through my pstop. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptian-language-question-from-piper-cub-mummy/769547/38 "2016-10-26T21:45:14Z")
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