τζαναμπέτης = a difficult, awkward person. Plural τζαναμπέτηδες. It is amazing how many so-called “Turkish” loan words are actually Arabic in origin. A case in point: “rishwah” means a bribe in Arabic. I was talking to a friend who is married to a lovely Turkish lady. While discussing one or two experiences with corruption in... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 11/2022
Greek Word 11/2022 κακαρώνω especially preceded by τα as in τα κακαρώνω = to die It is not very respectful, however. The biggest current news story in Greece concerns a woman, Roula Pispiringou, who is accused of murdering her oldest daughter with ketamine. She is also under suspicion of murdering her other two daughters and... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 10/2022
καπάκι – lid, just the humble cover for a pot, jar or bottle. Another borrowing, from the Turkish ‘kapak’. It also has other meanings. For example, the καπάκι is the soundboard or resonator of a stringed instrument. www.slang.gr also claims καπάκι can also mean a motorcycle accident, specifically the result of a doing a σούζα... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 09/2022
φλομώνω = choke, fill with smoke, smoke someone/something out, smother, suffocate. At least that is what Word Reference tells us. Βικιλεξικο gives two definitions. Literally, it means to fill a place with smoke or an unpleasant smell; metaphorically, it is bamboozling people with nonsense, lies or empty promises. (κυριολεκτικά) γεμίζω με καπνο ή με μια άσχημη μυρωδιά έναν χώρο(μεταφορικά) ζαλίζω τους άλλους με αερολογίες, ψέματα ή... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 08/2022
λαζαρέτο – lazaretto, a maritime quarantine station. Lazarettos (or lazarets) could also be ships permanently anchored offshore or islets. There is an obvious connection with the parable of Lazarus the beggar, and lazarettos were strongly associated with leprosy or plague. Babiniotis cites Santa Maria di Nazaret, a quarantine facility, as being the root of the... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 07/2022
κυβερνοεπίθεση – cyberattack The Greek Postal System, ELTA (ΕΛΤΑ), has been hacked. This has resulted in a temporary shutdown of all the computer systems in every post office branch in the country. The story is here: https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/1224191/kuvernoepithesi-sta-pliroforiaka-sustimata-ton-elta/ And in English: https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1180274/greek-postal-service-reports-cyber-attack/ Here are some other ‘cyber-‘ words. Although the English word ‘cybernetics’ is a borrowing... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 06/2022
ημερίδα – a seminar In all the years I have been involved with Greece and Greek, this word escaped me until a week or two ago. It is not a word I have known previously but forgotten. I’d managed to get through life without ever seeing it or consciously hearing it. I’m sure the following... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 05/2022
οπαδός – a fan In LinNG 05 I referred to the murder of Alkis Kambanos, which has received a lot of press, radio and TV coverage. My word of the week, οπαδός, is the everyday word for a sports fan. A synonym is φίλαθλος. Kambanos was a victim of football violence, translated here as οπαδική... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 04/2022
σκρόφα What a great word. It sounds as if it means something bad and indeed it does. If you didn’t speak Greek or any of the Romance languages, some rogue might be able to convince you that putana meant something nice like a species of pear or a child’s toy. It has a nice sound,... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 03/2022
Two words for the price of one this week. πακετάς, plural πακετάδες = a delivery person. Walking past a γυράδικο today, I saw a job advert on the window “ΖΗΤΕΙΤΑΙ ΠΑΚΕΤΑΣ” I was wondering why anyone would be looking for someone to wrap and box food for takeaways. Small eateries don’t usually have that level... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 02/2022
A bit of a mouthful this week in which ‘f’ and ‘th’ sounds are pronounced in succession. αυθυποβολή = autosuggestion It is made up of three components: αυτο + υπο + βολή. You might be wondering why or how αυτο has become αυθ but more about that later. The word came in this headline: Έρευνα:... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 01/2022
αναμνηστική = a booster injection. αναμνηστικός/ή/ό is an adjective which means ‘commemorative’, but αναμνηστική [δόση is understood] seems to be the favourite word currently for a booster injection. I have been unable to find out how it has come to mean booster. You can also say επαναληπτική, which makes more sense as it means ‘repeat’.... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 27/2021
ανασκουμπώνομαι – anaskubonomai – get down to work/roll up one’s sleeves. A quick one this week. Ανασκουμπώνω literally means to roll up one’s sleeves. Sometimes I choose words simply because I like the sound of them. This is one of them. The word appeared in an article about a physiotherapist in the Serres area who... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 26/2021
πέφτουλας – peftulas - (plural: πέφτουλες): a sexual chancer, someone who makes uninvited passes or advances on women. One of the presenters of Greece’s most popular TV satirical shows Ράδιο Αρβύλα has been sacked following the discovery of revenge porn clips he uploaded. Αρβύλα is a military boot but it has the additional meaning of... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 25/2021
After the fuss surrounding the production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, it has to be ντάνιασμα = stacking in an organised way. In the fuss surrounding the play, it has been translated as ‘segregation’. The root is ντάνα from the Italian tana. Βικιλεξικό makes it clear that it is a στοίβα (pile) από διάφορα πράγματα με τάξη το ένα πάνω στο άλλο. In... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 24/2021
χριστοπαναγία or χριστοπαναγίες - Christopanayia or Christopanagies = cursing and swearing. Χριστοπαναγία is a composite of the Greek words for Christ (Χριστός) and the Virgin Mary (Παναγία). A common Greek curse is “Χριστός και Παναγία”, which reminds me of my Catholic mother’s frequent imprecation “Jesus, Mary and Joseph”. At home there was a distinction between... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 23/2021
ψεκασμένος – psekazmenos – literally “sprayed” from the verb ψεκάζω. By extension, a conspiracy theorist. A frequent sight during Greek summers is the yellow aircraft with red tips on their way to fight another forest fire. Inevitably, there are those who believe that more than fire retardants are being sprayed from the skies. Anything from... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 22/2021
ντελιβεράς – deliveras – a delivery person A couple of weeks ago, a friend visited us quite late, so we ordered pizza. When the order arrived, the delivery ‘boy’ turned out to be a man in his fifties. More on this below. The Greek purists will be up in arms over yet another borrowing from... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 21/2021
As an addendum to my Greek Word 19/2021, γυναικοκτονία, it saddens me to report that yet another woman has been murdered by her ex. This time in Crete. Anyway, my latest choice is: κιοτεύω – kiotevo – to shrink from, to balk at, to be cowardly or to behave in a cowardly way. It was... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 20/2021
γούβα – ghouva – a hole, depression or sinkhole. Last week it rained most of the time. It does not take long for the roads, even main roads, to fill up with water. The incident in the article below happened on Ethnikis Antistaseos (National Resistance Street) the main east-west artery if you are driving into... Continue Reading →