What does Greek sound like to a non speak

Originally posted by Kenaney I know malaka is Greek but we say also "olm sen salakmisin malakmi?" So they are Turkish words in Greek and Greek words in Turkish, but lol first time i hear the word "ha siktir" they use in Greece

"ai siktir" is one of the most common insults in Greece. Especially if you are a driver you will hear of it from other drivers hundrends of time.

I know malaka is Greek but we say also "olm sen salakmisin malakmi?"

So they are Turkish words in Greek and Greek words in Turkish, but lol first time i hear the word "ha siktir" they use in Greece    

 doesn't everyone in the Balkans claim that

Originally posted by Molossos I recall my father telling me that my great grandmother used to say to people who were idle: "Don't sit there like a bimbashi". I looked the word up and I found out that it was an Ottoman military rank. Today it is used to describe a major.

Dont sit like a binbashi? That's interesting, binbashi means "the head/chief of a thousand (men/soldiers)" in Turkic militaries. But I have never heard of it being used as kind of a teasing word.

Actually, there used to be many Turkish words in every day vocabulary of Greeks in the 19th century, right after the liberation from the Ottomans and the founding of our state. There were many Italian ones as well, especially many naval or military terms. The standardization process of the language omitted many of them, since the hellenistike koine which had survived as the language of the Church (and is still in use) and its later product, the katharevousa, were chosen to replace common words of Turkish or other foreign root.

Makriyannis, the well known Greek warlord who wrote the memoirs of his experiences throughout his adventurous life, recorded many words in his text that are usually not understood by modern Greeks.

Such words are: "hapsi" (Turkish for prison), "yemeklikia" (Turkish for food supplies), "disbarko" (Italian for landing), "tebihi" (Arabic for warning), "jebhanes" (Turkish for ammo), "sunditos" (Italian for national citizen), "contrato" (Italian for contract), "morosa" (Italian for lover, girlfriend), "gidi" (Turkish for pimp ) and many others.

I recall my father telling me that my great grandmother used to say to people who were idle: "Don't sit there like a bimbashi". I looked the word up and I found out that it was an Ottoman military rank. Today it is used to describe a major.

All I wanted to know is what does Greek sound like to non-Greek and not start an argument.

I know what it sounds to me but I was curious what others thought. I will never forget the arguments between my mother and her sisters, in Greek, on the phone. And, the Greek American neighbor who use to sob on my late mother's shoulder in Greek.

Why did you need to tease us? Akinci only thought the word can be a common word in both Turkish and Greek (he didnt even say that the word was derived from an original Turkish word) and I told him that the two words had nothing to do with each other. I didnt even claim that the word was a common word or originally was Turkish. So what's the problem?

Lighten up!!!!
Don't take everything so seriously, there is nothing wrong nor insulting in what I posted, stop being so overprotective and try to have some fun from time to time. Does it really have to be all about arguments all the time????

The word malaka,comes from the Hellenic word malakia,which means disease.So malaka is the person who is sick.That's the proper meaning of the word.

If our mother had taken the time I would been speaking Greek and probably Spanish but I suppose she didn't see the point in teaching us Greek in an English speaking world. I had one Spanish teacher, an Anglo, who really taught us how to speak Spanish. I hope I have a Greek instructor that good. I wish we had more Greeks here. This area is far more beautiful than Chicago or Boston.
Other than my native language if I could speak two languages it would be; Greek and Spanish, German third!!!


Downtown Spokane at dusk!!

Originally posted by Phallanx So what's up, do or don't you know the language??

I would like to but it takes time to learn another lingo.