Beans Were an Ancient Egyptian Emblem of Death

[hprotagonist]

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.

[barry-cotter]

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

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

[scandinavegan]

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.

[yareally]

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

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

[0xbadf00d]

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:

[woogiewonka]

TIL Favism.

[mastrsushi]

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.

[PhasmaFelis]

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

[DanAndersen]

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.

[DoreenMichele]

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