26/003 Greek Word σκαλώνω – catch, hit a snag

My daughter was stopped at a junction in Athens when a migrant asked if she wanted her windscreen cleaned. She could not understand why the cars in front had all switched on their windscreen wipers since it wasn’t raining. Then she found out why. The fucker stole her wipers. She got a new pair at a petrol station but they did not fit very well.

On her way up to Salonika to spend Easter with us, things got worse when the wipers were more or less useless in a rainstorm. Anyway, I did not want to take a chance on getting another useless set, so we went to the Suzuki dealer. While waiting to be attended to, I overheard a conversation in which the employee was asking the customer if she had any comments on her new Suzuki. She said that the car σκάλωνε in first and reverse gears. So, the car was catching or sticking in those gears.

Metaphorically, it means ‘hit a snag’.

My old JT Pring dictionary gives the first meaning as ‘climb’, and while σκαλωσιά means ‘scaffolding’, my more modern dictionaries ignore this meaning.

www.slang.gr suggests in Example #1 below that it is close to “hook up with” or” get involved with”, while Example #2 might mean “hit a mental block”.

Κολλάω με κάτι / κάποιον που με προβληματίζει ή πού δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ ή που μου αρέσει ιδιαίτερα. Ως εκ τούτου διακόπτεται η φυσιολογική πορεία των πράξεων ή σκέψεών μου.

ΠΑΡΑΔΕΙΓΜΑ

1. – Τι κάνει ο Γιώργος;
   – Τώρα τελευταία έχει σκαλώσει άσχημα με μια γκόμενα και δεν μιλάει για τίποτ’ άλλο. Άρα καλά είναι.
2. Ρε συ, κάπου τώρα δεν είναι τα γενέθλια της Αντωνίας; Έχω σκαλώσει και δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ…