شيلنى واشيلك
Shayyelni w' ashayyelak
Translation: You load (stuff) on me, I load (stuff) on you.
Meaning: You scratch my back and I scratch yours. Today, this saying is used often to denote corruption and backroom dealing. But its origin is perhaps rural. In a pre-mechanical, pre-supermarket world, people constantly loaded and unloaded merchandise on the backs of beasts and humans. So there was always a calling for someone to load and unload.
Source: ُEgyptian proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center For Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha,
Translated by: Nabil Shawkat
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