Supposedly the word “tekel” is an insult. A search on Google only returned references to “Mene,
Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” from the Bible. I can’t see how this can be used as an insult. Anyone have any ideas?
Closest I can think of, is “tekla”, from Steven Brust’s Jhereg books. It’s either a commoner, or a ratlike rodent.
Where did you hear this used?
The phrase “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” was written on the wall by a mysterious hand during the feast of Belshazzar and was interpreted by the prophet Daniel. Tekel specifically means or implies apparently that one is weighed and found wanting. Not what you’d call a scathing insult but maybe everyone was more conservative in days of yore?
It spelled doom for old Belshazzar though because he was slain that night.
If we’re going to go all biblical on him, it was a babylonian unit of currency too, according to one of my textbooks (out in the car, so I’m not going to dig it out). It was the least valuable one too. Don’t know if that really qualifies as an insult.
Textbook notes that mene, mene, tekel, parsin are all units of currency, so the message can be seen as a multi-level pun (peres being 3 levels)
“teckel” is French for “dachsund.” Some may consider being compared to a small, low-slung dog insulting. They are clearly in error, as they fail to appreciate the noble character and innate dignity of a dachshund.
Apparently the insult “tekel” is related to the biblical quote “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” It is a pretty obscure insult. I’ll post the answer when I find out.
For those wondering how this question came up: my physics prof brought it up and said that if anyone could tell him what this insult meant, they’d receive an A on the next exam.