Word Play
Many of the names of characters and places in this album are puns in Brussels dialect:
- Ben Kalish Ezab – kalische zap, liquorice juice
- Bir El Ambik – bière lambic, a type of Belgian beer
- Yussuf Ben Mulfrid – moules-frites, a Belgian dish consisting of French fries with mussels
- Bab El Ehr – babbeleer, chatterer
- the Well of Bir Kegg – beer keg
- Wadesdah; What is that?
- Hasch Abaibabi; Hush-a-bye baby
"Boum !", the iconic song by Charles Trenet, appears in parody as the car breakdown repair company's advertising jingle, which plays on Thomson and Thompson's car radio at the very beginning of the story.
Read more about this topic: Land Of Black Gold
Famous quotes containing the words word and/or play:
“I hardly said a word to my wife until I said ‘yes’ to divorce.”
—John Milius, U.S. screenwriter, Francis Ford Coppola (b. 1939)
“While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy “Man”,
And its hero the Conqueror Worm.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)