I suspect that the first message beamed back at us by an extraterrestrial civilisation will be a crackling, faded recording of the jingle

Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese,

Pickles, onions, in a sesame-seed bun.

Followed by a brief pause, and then

Sorry we missed you! We'll call back in 5 billion years.

Matthew Clapham
Matthew Clapham

Written by Matthew Clapham

Professional translator by day. Writer of silly and serious stuff by night. Also by day, when I get fed up of tedious translations. Founder of Iberospherical.

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