24/015 Greek Word καρατομώ – behead

A word that’s been in the news recently with all the fuss surrounding the dissolution of Syriza. It’s also a timely reminder of the dangers of not digging deep into etymology. I knew καρατομώ meant kill, but I assumed 1) it was in the sense of gutting someone or cutting them into little pieces, and 2) I wondered at its connection to “kara” the Turkish word for black, which is a frequent prefix in Greek words and surnames. Wrong. No connection whatsoever. It’s from κάρα, an Ancient Greek word for head. In the modern language it refers to a relic, specifically the skull of a saint to be venerated in Church, so καρατομώ means behead and is, therefore, a synonym of αποκεφαλίζω. Quite ghoulish, as the picture below illustrates.

However, for all the venom and bile associated with the Syriza split, nobody has been beheaded in the party, Well, not yet. So we have to look for its metaphorical meanings. The first is, logically enough, “to inflict a heavy punishment on someone”. Less logically, the second is “to drive someone out of a position they hold,” and it is this meaning that is currently being used in the media. About fourteen months ago a complete unknown, Stephanos Kasselakis, was elected as party leader of Syriza. There was no honeymoon period, and from the day of his election there has been a sustained effort to remove him by fair means or foul (mostly foul) from office. It has been a staggering display of undemocratic procedures and goalpost shifting. The mission was accomplished yesterday when Kasselakis bowed out saying he was going to found a new party. It was a Pyrrhic victory for Syriza as four more MPs resigned the whip, meaning that Syriza is now level with PASOK on 31 seats in Parliament. One more defection and Syriza will no longer be the official opposition.

So ο Κασσελάκης καρατομήθηκε, but in a more serious incident, the word was used against me. We cooked fish yesterday. My wife told me that if I left the kitchen door open and allowed the smells to waft into the living room she would kill me. Θα σε καρατομήσω were her exact words. I’m still trying to work out if she meant behead, punish or drive me out of my position as paterfamilias.