"The man who had disappeared returned suddenly on the opposite side to that by which he had left; he made a sign with his head to the sentinel, who, turning to the boat, said, "S'accommodi." The Italian s'accommodi is untranslatable; it means at once, "Come, enter, you are welcome; make yourself at home; you are the master." It is like that Turkish phrase of Moliere's that so astonished the bourgeois gentleman by the number of things implied in its utterance."

Who is Moliere and which Turkish phrase are we talking about, I said to myself. After doing much digging, I found the scene Dumas was talking about.

From Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme: "MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: His Turkish Highness honors me too much, and I wish him all sorts of good fortune. COVIELLE: Ossa binamen sadoc babally oracaf ouram. CLÉONTE: Bel-men. COVIELLE: He says that you should go with him quickly to prepare yourself for the ceremony; then you can see your daughter and conclude the marriage. MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: So many things in two words? COVIELLE: Yes; the Turkish language is like that, it says much in few words. Go quickly where he wants. "

So, this Bel-men was what they were talking about. To my surprise as a native Turkish speaker, I have no idea what this word meant. So, I had to do more digging. And from Quora — from all the places — found my answer!

It's gibberish!! Moliere made up a language, combination of Lingua Franca, and some gibberish renderings of Turkish Arabic that Molière invented for comic relief. From my Turkish translated version of Monte Cristo, the footnote says that "Bel-men" was garbled version of "Bilmem" which means "I don't know" in Turkish.

So, tldr; two french guys are being funny I guess 🙂‍↕️

With the way Harris is being described right now, im imagining him as a “just 2 guys with a crazy idea” millennial burger restaurant person. Atleast he’s not wearing a man bun.

Also those boots he’s wearing on the cover are hate crime omfg.

Nothing has turned me off quite like a man saying he’s going to slurp pussy like he eats Ramen.🤮

I just finished Madonna in a Fur Coat and now I'm curious to read more work by Turkish authors. Would love recs of Turkish books translated into english- I welcome classics and contemporary fiction!

Edit: I started a list with everyone's recommendations :-) https://pagebound.co/lists/e33c70eb-cc5c-4537-83d4-2604754eeead