It's Greek to me
To blog... Or not to blog?
Hey all - forgive the length of this first blog - others will be more bite-sized.
This blog is an outlet, of sorts. An outlet to express my observations and to make comments about the everyday absurdity of life in Greece as I see it.
I'll be looking at politics, the economy, laws and the incompetence of those in government. I won't have to look too hard because the situation here goes from glorious to tragic in a single breath. If you've only visited Greece for a holiday, you no nothing of what I'll be sharing here. If you are Greek and live here, I have to ask...
What the hell's wrong with you?
EXAMPLE:
Last night, there was a large demonstration of students in downtown Thessaloniki. They were making the usual, socialistic demands for so-called "rights." BTW, in case you didn't know it, if someone has to "give" it to you...-- it's no right at all--... it's a privilege.
Anyway, someone had set an OTE box on fire. What's OTE? Simply the worst business anywhere in the world. If you've had any dealings with them you couldn't help but feel the same way. OTE is the national Greek phone company. They provide us with 1/7 of the internet speed for 40% MORE of the cost of an American internet user. I could go one for days about their incompetence and the pseudo, socialist-scum mentality of the people that created such a bloated monster but...
Back to the fire...
In order to fully appreciate this you have to understand where this took place. We are talking at the corner of the University, two of the largest and busiest roads in Thessaloniki; Egnatia and Ethnikis Aminis. So, as flames are shooting skyward from this box a fire truck with three firemen comes screeching to a halt to put out the fire, right?
Hell no.
They sat there and watched the flames. The didn't have any foam extinguishers to put out an electrical fire! Then, because me and another guy started yelling at them to put out the fire, they squirted it with a little water. They would squirt and then quickly hide behind the truck as if it was going to blow up or something.
Unbelievable!
Cars were passing by and not one of them stopped to put out the flame. Why should they? After all, there was a fire truck in front of it. You would think that the situation was under control, right?
Hardly.
Just another picture of everday occurance here. More on the way as they happen and as I have the oppurtunity to post. Until then, I'm posting a question for readers to answer. The fact is, not many people know the answer.
Where did the phrase, "It's Greek to me" come from?
(There's a hint in this post)
Hey all - forgive the length of this first blog - others will be more bite-sized.
This blog is an outlet, of sorts. An outlet to express my observations and to make comments about the everyday absurdity of life in Greece as I see it.
I'll be looking at politics, the economy, laws and the incompetence of those in government. I won't have to look too hard because the situation here goes from glorious to tragic in a single breath. If you've only visited Greece for a holiday, you no nothing of what I'll be sharing here. If you are Greek and live here, I have to ask...
What the hell's wrong with you?
EXAMPLE:
Last night, there was a large demonstration of students in downtown Thessaloniki. They were making the usual, socialistic demands for so-called "rights." BTW, in case you didn't know it, if someone has to "give" it to you...-- it's no right at all--... it's a privilege.
Anyway, someone had set an OTE box on fire. What's OTE? Simply the worst business anywhere in the world. If you've had any dealings with them you couldn't help but feel the same way. OTE is the national Greek phone company. They provide us with 1/7 of the internet speed for 40% MORE of the cost of an American internet user. I could go one for days about their incompetence and the pseudo, socialist-scum mentality of the people that created such a bloated monster but...
Back to the fire...
In order to fully appreciate this you have to understand where this took place. We are talking at the corner of the University, two of the largest and busiest roads in Thessaloniki; Egnatia and Ethnikis Aminis. So, as flames are shooting skyward from this box a fire truck with three firemen comes screeching to a halt to put out the fire, right?
Hell no.
They sat there and watched the flames. The didn't have any foam extinguishers to put out an electrical fire! Then, because me and another guy started yelling at them to put out the fire, they squirted it with a little water. They would squirt and then quickly hide behind the truck as if it was going to blow up or something.
Unbelievable!
Cars were passing by and not one of them stopped to put out the flame. Why should they? After all, there was a fire truck in front of it. You would think that the situation was under control, right?
Hardly.
Just another picture of everday occurance here. More on the way as they happen and as I have the oppurtunity to post. Until then, I'm posting a question for readers to answer. The fact is, not many people know the answer.
Where did the phrase, "It's Greek to me" come from?
(There's a hint in this post)
posted by Michigan Proficiency Expert at 8:47 AM
1 Comments:
It’s usually attributed to William Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar: “Those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me”. But virtually the same phrase had been used the year before (1600) by another Elizabethan playwright, Thomas Dekker: “I’ll be sworn he knows not so much as one character of the tongue. Why, then it’s Greek to him”. Actually, the phrase is older than both of them: it comes from a Medieval Latin proverb “Graecum est; non potest legi” (It is Greek; it cannot be read). Both the Latin and the English meant then just what the phrase does now, to refer to something that is unintelligible. As an aside, the Spanish version of this proverb is “hablar en griego”, which is commonly said to be the origin of the word gringo, so somebody who is called a gringo is literally accused of speaking Greek and hence being unintelligible.
That's the best explanation I found so far
Christina
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