In English, the expression keep your eyes peeled means “pay close attention” or “be on the lookout.” In modern Greek, the equivalent is ta matia sou dekatessera, literally, “your eyes fourteen.” In Greece today, if you’ve been rejected you might say so with a phrase that translates as “I ate a door.” If you’ve been looking for someone for a very long time, you might say efaga ton kosmo na se vro, the equivalent of “I ate the world to find you.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Greek Expressions”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
In English, if we want to tell somebody to be alert, pay close attention, we might say keep your eyes peeled.
But they have a great expression in Greece that they use that translates as your eyes 14.
Your eyes 14?
Yeah.
Tamachisos dekatesera.
What does that mean?
Which I love.
It’s just like, I guess, more than two eyes.
So like spider eyes.
Something like that.
Yeah, you know, the Greek mythical character Argus had 100 eyes all over his body.
But Tomachisas Dekatesera.
And you can hear the 14 in Dekatesera.
Yeah, Dekatesera.
I was going to point that out.
Oh, you are?
Very good.
That’s cool.
Well, I dug into some modern Greek slang, and I really am enjoying it.
For example, can you guess what the expression that literally translates as I ate a door means?
I ate a door.
This is what you’d say after a big meal?
Or in English, we say you have a burrito baby or something like that, right?
No, if you eat a door, you’re being rejected.
I ate a door, like a door slamming in your face.
Oh, it slammed you in the face.
They closed the door on you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And let me share one more with you that I really like that involves eating.
This is if you’ve been looking all over for somebody for a long time.
You say, which means I ate the world to find you.
I heard the word Cosmo in there.
You did.
Yes.
I ate the world to find you.
Exactly.
Or I ate the universe to find you.
Oh, that’s nice.
If you’ve been looking for somebody or something for a long time, I ate the world to find you.
Isn’t that gorgeous?
That’s gorgeous.
You’re right.
You did hear the word Cosmo in there.
That’s the same Cosmo I’m thinking of, right?
Cosmos.
It means the world.
Cosmos.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
Greek slang.
I’m going to share some more Greek slang later in the show.
Well, the only Greek I learned when I was in Greece many years ago was good morning.
I think it’s still, it’s kalimera.
Kalimera.
Yeah.
Which is, the kale in there is related to words like calligraphy, beautiful.
And hemera in Greek is related to our word ephemeral, which is existing but for a day.
Oh, that’s nice.
Like a mayfly.
Isn’t that cool?
Kalemera.
Email words@waywordradio.org.
