απέχω παρασάγγας (από) = to be a far cry from, to be wildly different, be miles away
The παρασάγγης was a Persian unit of distance, approximately 5,243 metres according to Babiniotis.
www.wiktionary.org states it was the equivalent of 30 Greek stadia or 5,554 metres – or the distance a foot soldier could be expected to march in one hour.
I camε across the expression in a June 26 article in Έθνος about the continuing implosion of SYRIZA. In the recent Euro elections, SYRIZA managed to hold onto second place, which was a kind of moral victory as the party looked like falling into third place behind PASOK. However, the in-fighting rages on. The writer said, “Τα όσα εκτυλίσσονται απέχουν παρασάγγας από το κλίμα νίκης που θέλησε να καλλιεργήσει ο ίδιος ο Στέφανος Κασσελάκης για τα αποτελέσματα των ευρωεκλογών” Roughly translated it means: “These developments are a far cry from the victory climate that Kasselakis wanted to cultivate following the Euro election results.
My advice to anyone is to double-check my Attic Greek grammar, but I think παρασάγγας is the accusative plural of παρασάγγης.
Finally, you don’t really hear it anymore, but I wonder if a vestige of this time/distance calculation remained in the Anatolian psyche via the unusual use of the word τσιγάρο (cigarette) to express distance. Forty or so years ago if you asked an older person how far away something was, they might have replied, “Ένα τσιγάρο/τσιγαράκι.” In other words, the time it took to smoke a cigarette – a 10- to 15-minute walk. Babiniotis gives this example: “Το σπίτι βρίσκεται ένα τσιγάρο δρόμο πιο κάτω.”