The expression “dark as Egypt” means really dark, and is a reference to the story in the book of Exodus of the ten plagues that descended upon Egypt, the ninth of these being complete darkness. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Dark as Egypt”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Mary Jo West in Phoenix.
Hello, Mary Jo. Welcome to the show.
Hi.
I’m thrilled to be here. Thank you.
Oh, well, we’re happy to have you on the line. What’s up?
Well, I grew up in the South, and I know you get a lot of grandmother questions, I’m sure, but whenever I’d be doing my homework in the bedroom or anywhere, my grandmother would walk into the room, turn on the light, and say, “Mary Jo, it’s dark as Egypt in here.” And I don’t know why she said that. I understood that she meant the light was off, but dark as Egypt.
Where in the American South were you?
I grew up outside Atlanta, Georgia, in College Park, Georgia, which is where the airport is. And everybody has to go to the Atlanta airport sometime in their lives if they fly.
Okay.
And I was going to ask, I mean, I’m a preacher’s kid. Was she a Sunday school-going woman?
Oh, my goodness. Oh, yes. We went to church several times a week at College Park First Baptist, and, you know, that was just a big part of our family tradition.
Okay, yeah. I bet we know some of the same people, because my dad was a Baptist minister. And that is the root of this expression, dark as Egypt, is a reference to Moses and Egypt in Exodus 10. You remember the story of the plagues, the ten plagues, where Moses is trying to get Pharaoh to let my people go and all that?
Oh, of course.
Yes, we learned that in Sunday school over and over as well as in the movie Ten Commandments.
Exactly.
Right, right. You got your frogs and your lice and your locusts and turning the water into blood and all of that. But you may remember the next to the last plague, the ninth plague, was darkness. And remember that, that God sent darkness over Egypt and it was so thick that you couldn’t see anything in front of you. It was almost some kind of darkness that could be felt as described in Exodus 10. And so if you’re talking about something being as dark as Egypt, you’re talking about something really, really, really dark.
Well, that just certainly answers the question.
Yes, I’m sure she had a lot of phrases that came from the Bible. So that clears that up.
Thank you.
There you go.
Well, it’s our pleasure, Mary Jo. Thank you for calling.
All right.
Take care.
Thanks so much.
Call us again sometime.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
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