Author: Nick Nicholas

Website:
http://www.opoudjis.net
About this author:
Data analyst, Greek linguist

What is cod-Greek?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-02 | Comments: 2 Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Linguistics

I’ve seen other such expressions, such as cod-Latin, and cod-Spanish. Cod-Latin is a synonym of Dog Latin, a fake Latin used playfully to imitate real Latin. The Wikipedia example is Stormum surgebat et boatum oversetebatThe storm rose up and overturned the boat Illegitimis non carborundum is another such instance. (“Don’t let the bastards get you […]

What do Greeks think of Yusuf Islam?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-02 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Modern Greek

A2A Hansolophontes. (Sorry, Khateeb, but you walked into that one.) (Ἁνσολοφόντης. Looks nice…) I’ll say what I think they feel, but I’ll go a roundabout way about it. What do Greeks of my upbringing and circumstances feel about ethnic Greek converts to Islam? Well, if they were pre-population exchange, they’re not around any more, and […]

In what languages does “everything is in order” stand for “everything is alright” (and sounds natural)?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-01 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

Add Modern Greek, as a calque from German into Ancient Greek (Katharevousa): όλα εν τάξει. Now spelled as a single word εντάξει, because that’s a fricking dative, and we don’t have datives any more. Answered 2016-11-01 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/In-what-languages-does-everything-is-in-order-stand-for-everything-is-alright-and-sounds-natural/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

What do you like about Athens, Greece?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-31 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Modern Greek

Me? Yes, Athens is crowded and outsize and horrid and smoggy. But. The Sacred Rock: The back streets of Plaka. A reminder that once, this used to be a chic 19th century town: … with a lot of 21st century Greeks jammed in: The peekaboo of antiquities against the cityspace. Like the Roman Forum: The […]

What are the reasons why Apollo finally befriends Hermes?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-31 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Culture

People of Quora. Before you read this my answer, read Amy Louisa’s answer. And before you upvote my answer, upvote Amy Louisa’s answer. It would be a bad thing if you upvote the linguist over the classicist. It would be an even worse thing if you upvoted the writing of a Greek screenwriter over the […]

Is the English “because noun” an instance of grammaticalization?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-31 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

If only. No, it’s a novel elliptic construction (drop the copula and subject, by default, including an expletive subject: because reasons = because there are reasons). The form Wellington Mendes reports, because wow, is a straightforward analogy. But the function, meaning, and phonetic content of because has not changed: it’s still a conjunction. Its scope […]

If the Byzantine Empire hadn’t fallen, and instead became the first colonisers of the New World, what would their colonies have been called?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-31 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

I am not herewith contradicting Dimitris Almyrantis’ answer. For Dimitris Almyrantis is awesome and stuff. I think I’m saying the same as him. I don’t think much would have been different, except that there’d be Greek names instead of English and Spanish; the naming principles, I suspect, would have been the same. Byzantine town-naming procedure […]

Why does the Chinese government actively support Esperanto?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-30 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Artificial Languages

User has mentioned in comment to question the magazine El Popola Ĉinio (“From the People’s China”), and I remember its impeccable glossiness and low-key propaganda. Argh! I did read about this at a bookstore the other day, in a collection of essays about the posterity of Mao’s Little Red Book. But no, I didn’t buy […]

Which poem or song best represents Greece in your opinion?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-30 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Modern Greek, Music

I’m going with the Birds of the Netherworld. stixoi.info: Του κάτω κόσμου τα πουλιά It’s got a lot of what makes Modern Greek culture so rich: Cryptic, magical dread. The lyricist based it on a nightmare he had; but the song was released in 1974, during the death-throes of the Greek dictatorship—so people assumed what […]

What languages use the word “ox” as a common insult?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-30 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

Not a surprise: Greek βό(ι)δι vo(i)ði is used to refer primarily to someone unmannered or dull. Per the Triantafyllidis dictionary: 2. (μτφ.) μειωτικός ή υβριστικός χαρακτηρισμός για άνθρωπο: α. αργόστροφο· βλάκας: Είναι ~, δεν καταλαβαίνει τίποτα. ΦΡ σαν το ~ στο παχνί*. β. άξεστο, αγροίκο, αναίσθητο· ζώο: Mε πάτησε κι ούτε συγγνώμη δεν είπε, το […]

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