One Lucky Soul: Random Stuff You May Not Know: Eighteen

Random Stuff You May Not Know: Eighteen by Omar Cherif, One Lucky Soul

From the historical bastardisation of words in 1920s Egypt, to unique English and French expressions, to the expansive fluidity of the human psyche: The world beyond our rigid cultural veils remains beautifully complex. Following Seventeen, here are five new topics to widen your horizon.

1. The Shebbak El Sayyed Haircut — حَلْقَةُ شُبَّاكُ السَّيِّدِ

Back in the days in Egypt, especially in Alexandria, men would go to their barber and ask for the Shebbak el Sayyed ( شباك السيد ) haircut. Being a common request, “Look no further” would have then been the reply. ‘Shebbak’ means window in Arabic, while ‘El Sayyed’ is a name for males, also mister or sir; so the phrase means the window of El Sayyed.

As the days went by, many people forgot the origin of the name and even what it actually meant. So what is the “Shebbak el Sayyed haircut”?, I hear you ask.

Well, when British soldiers were stationed in Egypt they would go to barbers asking for “Shave back and sides”. With time, shaving the back and sides became known as ( شباك السيد ) Shebbak el Sayyed. And that is simply it. I truly wonder if there are people alive today who use the wording.

For the time being there is nothing about it on the entirety of Google, in both languages. How did I originally know? An old friend and schoolmate, Shokry, has once told me in our early teens — through his own grandfather. I later double-checked with my late aunt’s husband, Dr. Toutou [born in 1933 and originally from Alex] and he did know it. Other than verifying it from much older generation folks — who had passed on — I knew this forgotten lore deserves a spot on the Random Stuff You May Not Know series.

Now YOU know.

2. The Anatomy of Notorious Synchronicity: Kom Bakir [كوم بكير]

This is what happens when cosmic timing decides to flex.

Last week, I came across the above 2020 post about the mythical Shebbak El Sayyed haircut (حَلْقَة شُبَّاك السَّيِّد) from Alexandria.

Few days later, my mother calls me, fresh off a sightseeing trip to Alexandria. “Grab a pen,” she says, “you’re going to love this.” Ooh, intriguing.

Enter Kom Bakir [ كوم بكير ], a historic corner of Alex’s infamous Al-Labban district. Back in the 1920s, this area served as an unofficial red-light zone operating right next to the British army’s base depot.

As the British soldiers would make their exit, the local women would call out after them: “Come back here!”.

Local tongues did what they do best, bastardised the phonetics, and linguistic history was made. “Kombakeer” was the Egyptian “Me love you long time”. Ha.

To add to the neighbourhood’s charm, this very same Al-Labban district is where Egypt’s most notorious serial killer sisters, Raya and Sakina, set up shop between 1919 and 1920 — terminating at least 17 women for their jewellery before paving them into the floorboards. A777oooo.

The area’s legacy even spawned Mostafa Awad’s vintage book title, A Prostitute from Kom Bakeer [ غانية من كوم بكير ].

Alexandria’s linguistic shapeshifting didn’t stop there, either. Take El Bayasa [ البياصة ] — which is just the local flavour of the Italian La Piazza.

These obscure, often forgotten nuggets are primarily why I wrote Words With Italian Origin That Are Still Used Today In Egypt back in 2015, an article that still sits pretty at number 2 on One Lucky Soul’s all-time reads list. Ayyyoooo.

The universe drops the breadcrumbs; I just map them out.

For the true language hunters, the complete evolutionary archive on One Lucky Soul can be traced chronologically right here:

📜 The Sayings Archive (2016): Some Arabic Sayings With Translations — أمثال عربية و ترجمتها

🗣️ The Slang Catalogue (2024): Some Egyptian Arabic Expressions With Translations — مصطلحات مصرية و ترجمتها

🏺 The Rare Lexicon (2026): مفردات مصرية نادرة ومعانيها: من الجَلَنْف والخَبُوء إلى الأَرْعَنُ والدُغُـف

3. Confessions of an Unmedicated Onomatomaniac

A Vocabulary for the Raw, Wild, and Solitary.

Being an unmedicated logo-lexophile, the following is a list of words for natural things which I happen to also love. What to say: Lots and lots of love.

• Pluviophile (n): Lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.

• Petrichorophile: Lover of the distinct, earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. (The ultimate sibling of Pluviophile).

• Astrophile: Lover of stars.

• Ceraunophile: Lover of lightning and thunder.

• Chionophile: Lover of cold weather and snow.

• Dendrophile: Lover of trees.

• Nemophilist: Lover of the forest, fond of its scenery and solitude; a haunter of the woods.

• Nyctophile: Lover of night or darkness.

• Selenophile: Lover of the moon.

• Heliophile: Lover of the sun.

• Opacarophile: Lover of sunsets.

• Thalassophile: Lover of the sea.

• Limnophile: Lover of lakes.

• Hodophile: Lover of roads, travelling.

• Autophile: Lover of solitude, being alone.

• Anemophile: Lover of wind; someone who finds peace, clarity, and life in a gusting breeze.

• Nephophile: Lover of clouds; a constant seeker of shapes and shifting shadows in the daytime sky.

Cremnophile: Lover of cliffs, ridges, and steep mountain slopes. (Perfect for the rugged terrain of the coast).

You may love all the above even more while enjoying a glass of wine or three because...

• Oenophile: Lover of wines, connoisseur.

4. The Spectrum of the Fluid Psyche

Beyond the Veils of Cultural Monoliths.

To strip away the protective illusions of tradition, religion, or family is to look the actual reality of the world in the face. For the younger generations navigating spaces where these matters remain heavily tabooed, discovering these concepts isn’t just about learning new words or to enhance one’s vocabulary — it is about realising that human nature refuses to be permanently entrapped in any single cultural box. There is always a much bigger picture.

For anyone inherently interested in psychology and philosophy, topics like drugs and sexuality, along with dreams and consciousness, remain essential material. Through these, one better understands the inner psyche as well as the Human Condition in its entirety. The following are some lesser-known terms to be acquainted with.

It remains however worthy of note that when it comes to sexuality in particular, labels may still be just labels — since sexuality is too fluid to entrap in boxes. It is not polar, not black and white, as there are various shades of grey in between. A reason why we find new words being “invented”, and new letters and colours added with almost every generation.

• Demisexual: A person only attracted to someone with whom they have a very close emotional bond. Feelings do not develop until they have known a person for a long time and feel emotionally connected.

• Greysexual/Graysexual: Someone who experiences occasional, conditional, and/or very mild sexual attraction, existing in the fluid space between asexuality and regular attraction.

• Pansexual: Also known as Omnisexual. Someone who is attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity; a “gender-blind” capacity for love.

• Polysexual: Someone sexually attracted to many or multiple, but not necessarily all, genders or sexes.

• Minsexual: Someone attracted to individuals with a masculine gender expression; an attraction to masculinity itself, regardless of whether the person is a man, woman, or non-binary.

• Ceterosexual: Previously referred to as “Skoliosexual”. Someone explicitly attracted to non-binary or genderqueer individuals.

• Polyamory: The practice of having more than one romantic or sexual partner simultaneously with the explicit consent of all involved.

Distinct from Polygamy (which legally/traditionally implies multiple spouses), and distinct from Polyandry (which specifically denotes multiple husbands). Polyamory literally translates from Greek and Latin as “multiple loves”.

• Queer: One of the most fascinating linguistic evolutions in modern history. Originally a 16th-century English word meaning “strange,” “peculiar,” or “eccentric,” it was heavily weaponised as a derogatory slur for decades. Today, it has been completely reclaimed as an expansive, proud umbrella term for anyone whose identity or orientation falls outside traditional heteronormative boxes — proving that language can be captured, flipped, and repurposed for liberation.

The Blueprint Check: For the uninitiated, the “Q” in the global LGBTQ acronym carries a dual history. Emerging dynamically around the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was originally introduced to signify Questioning — representing individuals still actively exploring their orientation or identity beyond default societal expectations. Today, it comfortably represents both Queer and Questioning.

“The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”

― J.B.S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

For a deeper exploration of how primal sonic expression unlocks hidden human desires, read the full case study on the 2017 exposé, The Intertwining of Music and Sexuality ― A Djembefola’s Tale.

5. French Paradoxes: From Lagging Brains to Unmet Desires

The Architecture of Frustration.

• L’esprit de l’escalier: Also known as L’esprit d’escalier (lit. “staircase wit” or “wit of the staircase”), is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect retort too late; that unpleasant feeling when the witty comeback you wish you had delivered only comes after the conversation is already over; hindsight wit or afterwit; repartee thought of too late, on the way home for instance — or at the top or bottom of the stairs. It is sometimes referred to as “escalator wit” in English.

The name of the phenomenon and origin of the idiom comes from French encyclopedist and philosopher Denis Diderot’s description of such a situation in his Paradoxe sur le Comédien (Paradox of the Actor), originally published in 1830.

Since we’re at it,

• Femme mal baisée: Cruelly but accurately translated in French dictionaries as: Femme frustrée, insatisfaite, insupportable qui n’a pas eu sa dose quotidienne de sexe pour être assez aimable.

Coming across this French expression, which has no direct single-word translation to English, one is instantly reminded by a few people ― females as well as males. In English, it literally translates into “badly fucked”. In other words, “a woman who isn’t getting any”. It is usually used when describing a frustrated, intolerable, unsatisfied woman. According to the expression, the reason why they are unable to be loving and pleasant is that they didn’t get their healthy dose of sex… and Love.

A funny memory is that when first sharing the above linguistic bit back in 2021, the post received an angry emoji response ― from some woman, of course.

Et voilà. À la prochaine.

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