Another borrowing from English that is being used instead of κυλάω. Κύλιση (scrolling) is also losing out to σκρολάρισμα.

In the passive (μπουρδουκλώνομαι) it means ‘trip’, often as a result of having one’s feet among cables and wiring. It’s a word that would have come handy in our last gig when six of us were occupying a small stage with instrument, mic and electric cables posing a real trip hazard.

24/004 Greek Word – κουνουπίδι = cauliflower… … but on overhearing two young gentlemen in conversation, I learnt that κουνουπίδι as in έγινα κουνουπίδι means “I got hammered” ie very drunk. The discussion became livelier when one of them described his inebriation as έγινα κωλοτρυπίδι, an unlisted variant of κωλοτρυπίδα (literally arsehole). The best English... Continue Reading →

Our first example of “Greeklish” of 2024. I was discussing some of the latency problems we experience when having a Zoom music session with friends in Malta. The normal Greek for ‘latency’ is καθυστέρηση, but Greeks prefer to us the noun λαγκ (τρώω λαγκ) and the verb (λαγκάρω)

In LinNG 24/002 I talk about how an “I-don’t-give-a-fuck” attitude still prevails in Greek public life. As long as my house and immediate environment are OK, fuck everything else. The Greeks have borrowed the term ζεμανφουτισμός from the French je-m’en-foutisme, but they have a much better one of their own: σταρχιδισμός, a noun derived from... Continue Reading →

τεμπελόπιτα = lazy pie. A combination of τεμπέλης (indolent) + πίτα (pie or pita bread). What it means is any pie that avoids the hassle of making a pastry. And here is a recipe with the added attraction of tsipouro (τσίπουρο) among the ingredients: https://www.bovary.gr/living/taste/tempelopita-i-paneykoli-pita-me-feta-kai-tsipoyro

κατσιβέλα – a gypsy woman. Not a compliment. The masculine equivalent is κατσίβελος. My interlocutor said the word is used in Xanthi, and www.slang.gr supports this: Συνώνυμο του γύφτος, ευρέως γνωστό στην Θράκη. - Δες τον κατσίβελο τι φοράει!- Κατσιβέλια ρε, τι περίμενες;... As you can see from the above example, being a bad dresser is... Continue Reading →

φυτευτός: literally, it refers to a plant that is not native to a region. I suppose potatoes and tomatoes in Europe fall into that category. The opposite - ‘growing naturally’ – is αυτοφυής as in αυτοφυή φυτά, native plants. The word has been used recently to describe Stefanos Kasselakis, the new leader of SYRIZA, the... Continue Reading →

This time a phrase rather than a word. Western ideas can take a while to make their way to Greece. For example, the #MeToo movement was about three years behind, but it did end at least two careers. Now one horrible idea has hit Greece: zero hours contracts. Professional people are lucky to earn €700... Continue Reading →

μανούρα = a ball ache. Well, that was the translation my bilingual interlocutor proffered. It is a colloquial word, not as vulgar as my interlocutor’s translation. It’s also missing from several dictionaries including the Babiniotis. My Word Reference app defined it as “sth: requires effort” or “κτ που θέλει κόπο” while giving ταλαιπωρία as a... Continue Reading →

λαθροϋλοτόμος – an illegal logger I came across this in an article about a forest ranger being the victim of a serious attack by an illegal logger who hit the man on the head with a metal bar. This is the article: https://www.ethnos.gr/greece/article/267539/poseginehepitheshmeoploapolathroylotomosyxnaantimetopoimediaplhktismoysoidasikoiypallhloileipoyn1000atomaapotisyphresies The word has three parts: λαθρο = hidden/secret so by extension ‘illegal’... Continue Reading →

εκπαραθυρώνω – defenestrate I love it when a word is immediately understandable. In Greek, like English, it can be used literally and metaphorically. The current metaphorical favourite in British English is ‘throw someone under/in front of a bus’. Were I to translate that into Greek, I would probably choose εκπαραθυρώνω. As Greek has borrowed extensively... Continue Reading →

παράσυρση = running over and dragging a pedestrian or a cyclist along the road. Word’s spellcheck does not recognise the above. It offers alternatives like παράλυση and παράφυση. Nor does Babiniotis have it as a headword or even within the definition of its parent verb παρασύρω. The word caught my attention when I saw this... Continue Reading →

ετεροδημότης (fem: ετεροδημότισσα) = someone who lives in one municipality but who is registered to vote in another. It’s election time. Maybe it’s because I live outside the city that the campaigns seem less febrile than usual. Besides, Sunday 21st May will likely be Round 1, so the real battles will take place from Monday... Continue Reading →

σκαρφίζομαι = dream up, make up, come up with an (improbable) story, επινοώ I got this from the telly. There is a channel on Nova called Epic Drama, mostly consisting of murder mysteries such as the Canadian series Murdoch, a UK/Austrian series called Vienna Blood, Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, and other UK staples such as... Continue Reading →

Λέτσος = shabbily dressed, a borrowing from the Italian ‘lezzo’. The Dictionary of Greek goes further: Άνθρωπος βρόμικος και κακοντυμένος, κουρελής μτφ. α) άνθρωπος χωρίς αξία και σοβαρότητα β) άνθρωπος με άσχημους τρόπους και άσχημη εμφάνιση. What amused me, on overhearing two women talking, was that they were not talking about some tramp hovering nearby... Continue Reading →