Introducing Michalis Xatziyiannis

I read somewhere on the Web that Michalis Xatziyiannis is the Greek John Mayer, but that doesn’t begin to capture what a huge star he is in Greece or his brilliant lyrics and melodies. This is one of his most famous songs, “Ανάποδα” or “Upside-Down.”

I’m going to create my own world and live inside it

Here everything will be upside-down

For me reality is going to be a lie from now on

And the fiction will be the truth.

I’m going to turn everything on earth upside-down.

Me, a crazy and hurt kid.

When you say “go away”

Then I’ll be a shadow you can’t get rid of

And when I hear “come here”

Then I’ll go far away again.

When you say “no”

I’ll react as if I heard “yes”

Because I still feel it in my heart

And this way I simply won’t surrender.

I’m going to make my own world and you can come in freely

But I’ll do the opposite of whatever you say

It’s not just a reaction or egotism

It’s despair, it’s anger.

I’m going to turn everything on earth upside-down.

Me, a crazy and hurt kid.

When you say “go away”

Then I’ll be a shadow you can’t get rid of

And when I hear “come here”

Then I’ll go far away again.

When you say “no”

I’ll react as if I heard “yes”

Because I still feel it in my heart

And this way I simply won’t surrender.

Lyrics by Eleana Brachali.

Greek word of the day

ταχυδακτυλουργός

(pronounced “tachi-dakti-lur-GOS”) 

Magician.

I love to say this word, it is a typical Greek tongue-twister. I also love the fact that you can break it down very easily into its roots. 

“Τάχυ” comes from “ταχύς,” the word for speedy.

“Δάκτυ” comes from “δάκτυλος,” the word for finger.

And “ουργός” is a suffix that indicates what kind of work someone does.

Hence a ”ταχυδακτυλουργός” is someone who does speedy things with his hands professionally.

Another word for magician is “ελαφροχέρης,” which translates literally as “the light-handed one” or more colloquially as “fingers.” And our “magician” is derived from the Greek word “μάγος,” or “magos,” but that refers to someone who practices magic as an art rather than commercially.

One more great thing about “ταχυδακτυλουργός” is its provenance. Greeks love to boast about how 70 percent of the words in English are derived from Greek words. But you would be surprised how many Greek words are derived from foreign languages. According to this online dictionary, “ταχυδακτυλουργός” is probably a translation of the French word “prestidigitateur.” Which brings us full circle.

Note: the Greek “x” is typically transliterated as “ch,” but this is not the “ch” of chair. It is a guttural sound that comes from the throat, the “ch” of the Hebrew expression “l’chaim,” or “to life.” The "gos" in this word sounds like "ghost."

Greek slang of the day

Ε, ποτέ! 

(pronounced “eh, po-TAY!”)

Eh, never!

A term used in Kolonaki which expresses surprise, in the spirit of “go to hell” and many related expressions, such as:

Ay, caramba!

What the fuck!

Christ and the Virgin Mary!

Christ and his mother!

Get out of here!

It doesn’t add up!

Example:

--Guess who I happened to see walking hand-in-hand downtown on Saturday?

--Who?

--Soula with Heracles!

--Eh, never!

Source: http://www.slang.gr/lemma/show/e_pote!_13858

Why Greece should NOT return to the drachma

Sharp opinion piece from today’s Kathimerini, speculating that the people who are calling for Greece to return to the drachma are the fat-cats who have soaked up all the money and invested it abroad.

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. 

Introducing Christos Georgoussis

I am smitten by modern Greek poets, in particular by Christos Georgoussis, a retired schoolteacher who is one of the leading lights of Paros. Christos posts only poetry on his Facebook page, short snippets tossed off day to day. This one from yesterday was especially beautiful. He is describing Paros.

Lines and drawings in your notebook record the hills of the island. Straight lines and crooked curves and sharp endings of animal skins. Corners with all of the numbers of the fates, acute accents and grave, sloping planes, squares and threshing floors, cones and pyramids, the haunches of women and the peaks of femininity, hazy and domed churches, bodies that you dreamed of and you loved, the birthplace of rivers and sources, the hand-made art of a divine potter.

One of his friends posted a comment in response to this calling Christos “the most erotic poet ... writing about the most erotic island.”

Greek slang of the day

μούργα 

(pronounced “MURR-ga”)

There is no direct English translation for this word. Here is how a Greek online slang dictionary explains it (in Greek):


1. Every little bit of dirt that shows up somewhere.

2. A place with dirty people, threatening and shady characters. The word refers to a crowd of such people.

3. Party for men, with lots of drinking, traditional or folk music, with at the least drunkenness, vomiting, drunken philosophical conversations and some lost memories of the universe. Usually used with the verb “to make.”

Examples:

1. Clean up a little, bro, a crowd of bad boys have showed up at your house!

2. Oh, you jerk, look at these bad boys! Where did you bring us with all of these lowlifes? 

3. Whoa, we had a hell of a party yesterday at John’s house, something else!

Source: http://www.slang.gr/lemma/show/mourga_18817/#lemma_21120

Greek proverb of the day

Ο βρεγμένος τη βροχή δεν τη φοβάται.

A wet person isn’t afraid of the rain.

Greek rock bands rock!

There are some incredible rock bands these days in Greece. Here are the Bees performing their song “Secretly,” with an English version of the lyrics below.

You tell me how the moments go faster than the wind

looks which healed wounds belong to the past now

but a hug says a lot more than anything you say

When we dance secretly, you wrap yourself around me

with a look and a kiss you go crazy

your touch makes me drunk, your lips are fire

inside which I’ll be burning.

Then, late on Sundays, a walk on the sand

kisses, love games, but it’s not enough for you

and one of your hugs gives a lot more than you want.

When we dance secretly, you wrap yourself around me

with a look and a kiss you go crazy

your touch makes me drunk, your lips are fire

inside which I’ll be burning.

"Κρυφά," Μέλισσες. Produced by Universal Music Greece.

It's all relative

Here we say, “It’s all Greek to me.” But in Greece they say, “It’s all Chinese to me.”

Greek joke of the day

Okay, I am going to devote a lot of this blog to translating jokes, so readers can get a feel for Greek humor. This one comes from a joke site called Yeladeros. It’s called “Gifts.”

Four men who had been friends in school met again 25 years later for a coffee. They started to talk about the accomplishments of their lives, and each one bragged about his son.

The first one started:

“My son? Ah, I don’t have any complaints. I taught him and he became big and great! Now he’s the general manager of Mercedes for Europe and Asia. Lots of money. He scatters it. Yeah, the day before yesterday one of his friends had a birthday and my son gave him a Mercedes SLK Cabrio...”

The second one continued:

“And mine... He is one of the biggest civil engineers in our town. Money with a tail! And  coincidentally, the day before yesterday he gave a friend a 2,000-square-meter villa!”

And the third one said:

“Mine is a pilot, and he has opened his own airline company which is going very well. And imagine, the day before yesterday he gave one of his friends a personal Lear Jet. Talk about money!”

The fourth man came back from the toilet. He hadn’t heard a word.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re talking about our sons,” said one of the men. “Why don’t you tell us about yours? What has he done with his life?”

And the fourth one said:

“My son is gay! But I don’t have any complaints. He gets along very well. He works for one of the biggest shows in the city, he’s famous, sought-after and very well-loved by his friends. The day before yesterday his three boyfriends gave him fantastic gifts: a Mercedes SLK, a 2,000-square-meter villa and a personal Lear Jet!”

Putting out fires in Athens

I got stuck in Athens during the two-day general strike in late June, and hard as I tried to stay away from Syntagma Square, where punks were throwing rocks at police and getting tear-gassed in return, I got caught up in the strike indirectly. 

On the second day of the strike, I was walking back to my hotel before dark when I heard shouting and saw people running. A large Dumpster had been kicked over onto the street and set on fire. I’ve been to Athens many times, and I’d never seen anything like it.

The police roared through on motorbikes. Pedestrians sauntered by, continuing their casual conversations. One man actually laughed as he stepped through the trash. 

Several men stood on the sidelines, including Yannis, the manager of the hotel where I stay. Something in me snapped.

“This isn’t acceptable!” I said in Greek.

I picked up one of the sides of a wooden crate and began scooping the litter away from the bin. Yannis called to me, “Leave it, Cynthia! Leave it for the police.”

“No!” I said. “We need to put it out now, before it gets bigger.”

I picked up a garbage bag and began packing it with aluminum and paper, bare-handed. Yannis called out to passing Pakistanis and Iraqis, offering them five euros to help me. Finally a young man stopped and started helping me separate the trash from the fire.

Suddenly Yannis appeared with a small fire extinguisher. He pointed the nozzle to the fire on the street and into the bin. The flames went down a bit. Another man appeared with a large bucket of water. Finally -- I had goaded them into action. 

I like to sing the praises of Greeks. But the more I think about this incident, I can’t decide who makes me angrier -- the violent punks or the passive bourgeoisie.

The blue, blue palette of the Aegean

When it’s the sea, it’s turquoise shallows that turn royal blue further out. “The deeper, the better,” they say.

When it’s an Orthodox church or the Greek flag, it’s the whitest of white on sky blue.

When it’s a flag on a boat headed out to sea, it’s a blue that shouts out loud, “I’m free!”

There are different theories about the design of the Greek flag: In one, the nine stripes represent the syllables of the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος” (“Freedom or Death”). Or maybe they represent the nine muses, the goddesses of art and civilization. As usual, there are no hard answers, only theories.

Jasmine Girl

As soon as I get to Athens, I walk up into the foothills of the Acropolis, where jasmine blooms in abundance. When I was there in June, I found this American cutie who couldn't stop inhaling the scent -- it is that intoxicating!

Whenever I see a jasmine  bush, I pick a handful of blossoms and stuff my pockets with them.

Greek street art

You can always find cool art on the streets of Athens. This drawing caught my eye -- how could it not?

What makes it interesting to me is the combination of the idealized figure and the sadness in her face. And the caption adds to the mystery: It says simply, “I’m crossing my cities...”

It makes me wonder, where is she going? What has she seen? The street name translates roughly as Golden Cave Dweller.

The entitlements of being a Greek priest

Greek priests can look very formidable in their robes and all, but once you get to know them, they’re just regular guys with entitlements. This is my friend Stratos and his friend the priest, hanging out at a cafe on a Greek island. 

Here are a few things I know about the priest: He’s married with children. He has to wear his robes in public, even when he goes fishing with Stratos. He parks wherever he pleases, according to Stratos, and if he gets a ticket, he ignores it.

“Oh,” I said, “you mean he writes it on his balls?”

“Exactly!” Stratos said, laughing.

When a Greek doesn’t give a damn about something, he says, “I’m going to write it on my balls,” or just "on my balls." In Greek, it looks like this: Στα αρχίδια μου.

There’s another priest on the island who is often discovered having sex in public, always with a different woman. The things these guys get away with!

Ox-turning

Falling in love with a language happens one word at a time. My word for today is boustrophedon, an English word that’s based on a Greek word. It’s a writing style from ancient times in which alternate lines go in opposite directions: one line from left to right and the next from right to left. 

In Greek the word looks like this: βουστροφηδόν. And it literally means “ox-turning” or “as the ox ploughs.” Oxen first go in one direction, then come back in the other direction. I love words like this, metaphors that contain a lesson in ancient agriculture.

Another one of my favorite Greek words is “harmolipi.”(This one never made it into English.) It’s a compound word based on the words for joy and sorrow, and naturally it means a mix of the two, “joyful sorrow,” according to one theologian.

This is how it looks in Greek: χαρμολύπη. It’s a sensation that I feel every time I leave that country.

Credits:

http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/glossary.html (boustrophedonic text.)

http://www.metropostcard.com/topicalsb.html (oxen).

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