حسنة و انا سيدك Hasanah we ana seidak. Translation: (Give me) alms yet treat me as you master. Meaning: Beggars cannot be choosers. This used to be a very popular saying well into the second half of the twentieth century. It denotes times of change, when someone, presumably fallen from a higher station in life, tries to get more than he deserves without pulling their weight. It may have been used also by locals as a racial slur against the Turks. Source: Egyptian Proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center for Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha, Translated by: Nabil Shawkat http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/130124.aspx