μπερμπάντης – berbandis, plural μπερμπάντηδες, from the Italian birbante. The etymology was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting it to be another Turkish loan word.
At the end of last week Akis Tsochatzopoulos died. He was a huge figure in PASOK from the early 80s until the mid 90s. There were good articles about him in www.iefimerida.gr and www.voria.gr
In the former, the author described him as a μπερμπάντης, just like his boss Andreas Papandreou. And just like his boss, he married a much younger woman later in his life. Unlike Papandreou, however, Tsochatzopoulos went to prison, but not for being a μπερμπάντης since being a womaniser is not a crime.
So μπερμπάντης is a synonym for the much more common word γυναικάς (plural γυναικάδες). Another possible synonym is ερωτύλος. Μπερμπάντης also has a hint of being larger-than-life and fraudulent. Akis Tsochatzopoulos fitted the bill on all thee counts. Both articles left me with the impression that he was a mafioso without the killing – at least I hope nobody is lying at the bottom of the Thermaic Gulf wearing a pair of cement boots.
A μπερμπάντης is a womaniser or a whoremonger. My reliable informant loves the Scottish dialect version: whoormaister.
Google also threw up a song: O μπερμπάντης
There is the original 1927 version by Amalia Vaka recorded in New York in 1927. The YouTube clip also has a little biographical note about the singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKxHOKN3A8o
And here is a modern rendition by Haroula Alexiou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_LZL7qieDQ
And here are the lyrics:
Ο ΜΠΕΡΜΠΑΝΤΗΣ
Εγώ είμαι ενός μπερμπάντη γιος
και συ είσαι μια κυρία
γιαυτό δε θέλω να ακουστεί
πως έχουμε φιλία
Μπερμπάντης εγεννήθηκα
μπερμπάντης θα πεθάνω
κι αφού μ’αρέσει η μπερμπαντιά
τι πρέπει για να κάνω
Όλα μου τα παράτησα
μαχαίρια και καυγάδες
κι αν αρχινήσω τα παλιά
θα κλάψουνε μανάδες