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Category: Culture
How related are Turkish to Greek culture?
*shrug* Similar. 500 years of close coexistence and bilingualism (not that people can grok that now). Lots of food in common, with traffic in both directions, and different preferences of spices. Several common cultural practices, such as taking shoes off before going inside. Many, many formulaic expressions in common. Significant musical overlap: in some genres […]
What is the origin of the expression “Va te faire voir chez les Grecs”?
No disagreement: it’s a reference to Ancient Greek pederasty. Being a classical reference, it would have a classicist, learnèd origin: it’s not a turn of phrase some random peasant on the Loire came up with. Aller se faire voir chez les grecs says that the expression is no early than the start of the 20th […]
How are colors perceived in different languages and cultures?
Greek: The colour of sex is pink. Actually, it’s roz, a borrowing from French rose. The colour of freshness and youth is not green, but pale green, khloros. Sky blue, galanos, is the colour of calm. (There’s been some etymological conflation there.) You go yellow with fear, not cowardice. Answered 2016-08-29 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/How-are-colors-perceived-in-different-languages-and-cultures/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
How did the Greek tragedy originate?
No references were harmed or even looked at in the authoring of this answer. It’s hard for us now to understand the awe and fear of ancient Greek religion. So when reading this answer, try not to think of Pericles and Demosthenes. Think instead of J. Random Tribesperson from, I dunno, Vanuatu or some place. […]
How do you say welcome to a greek wedding?
Greek is all about the formulaic expressions. If you’re the guest in a Greek wedding, you must say: Να ζήσετε “may you live [long]” to the bride and groom. Να σας ζήσουν “may they live [long] for you” to the bride and groom’s families. Πάντα άξιος “[may you] always [be] worthy” to the best man. […]
Where is taking off your shoes when entering a home common, and how common is it in those places?
It has been de rigeur in Greece to take your shoes off when entering a house, as owner or guest. Indeed, Greek has borrowed the Turkish proverbial expression about it: to “hand someone their shoes” is to invite them to get the hell out of your house. (του ’δωσα τα παπούτσια στο χέρι/pabuçu eline vermek). […]
Has Komnenos/Komnena survived as a Greek surname in modern Greece?
The question about this is always whether it’s a survival or a revival. The Greeks of Cargèse for example convinced themselves that their main clan (the Stephanopoli) were descendants of the Comneni, and got the paperwork from the King of France to prove it. As a result, almost everyone from the village is now surnamed […]
Did Greeks in the Ottoman age feel Greek or Roman? Why was Greek identity chosen and not Roman when fighting for independence?
Go to Names of the Greeks: much good information there. On the eve of the Greek War of Independence, the prevalent term for Greeks was Roman (Romioi). That was what the simple folk used, and they used it to refer to Greek Orthodox Christians (the Rum Millet), as the folk of the East Roman (Byzantine) […]
What do Greeks think of Italians and Italy?
Half of Greece (the islands) was a colonial outpost for various Italian republics—mostly Venice and Genoa. But that was a very, very long time ago, and Greeks have forgotten that, for example, Cretan villagers welcomed the Ottomans as relief from Venetian feudalism. What was left behind was significant cultural transmission from Italy to Greece: a […]
Why do Greeks love Russia so much?
Greeks (OK, Byzantines) gave the Russians Orthodoxy, and feel a bond with them out of that. During Ottoman rule, the Russians saw themselves as the Third Rome—the successor state to Byzantium, which the Greeks felt was their lost empire. The Greeks in turn longed to be rescued by the Russians: Ακόμη τούτην άνοιξη (ραγιάδες, ραγιάδες)τούτο […]