Kuk

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See k.u.k. for the abbreviation describing the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In Egyptian mythology, Kuk (also spelt Keku) was the deification of the primordial concept of darkness, in the Ogdoad cosmogony, his name meaning darkness. As a concept, Kuk was viewed as androgynous, his female form being known as Kauket (also spelt Keket), which is simply the female form of the word Kuk. Like all 4 dualistic concepts in the Ogdoad, Kuk's male form was depicted as a frog, or as a frog-headed man, and the female form as a snake, or a snake-headed woman.

As a symbol of darkness, Kuk also represented [obscurity], and the unknown, and thus chaos. Also, Kuk was seen as that which occurred before light, thus was known as the bringer-in of light.

Trivia

"Kuk" is in the Swedish and Norwegian languages an obscene word meaning penis. Funnily enough, in Danish "kuk" generally means mess or chaos. Adding to the fun is the fact that the Swedish word kudde, which means pillow in Swedish, sounds a lot like a similar word in, which means to have sex in Danish – creating some serious bedtime misunderstandings. An interesting, though perhaps unrelated fact is that on the Portuguese islands of the Azores, "kuk" is a verb meaning "to unintentionally spray ketchup". It is popularily used to point out and ridicule people who spill the red sauce. A phrase commonly uttered at dinner tables on the islands is – "O haha, ele kuk."

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