Monday, December 31, 2012

Janus

Iανός (ee-ah-NOSS) ... the song says "Time is a Janus." You can see they are the same word, but pronounced so differently it didn't click.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

hamouTZEEESSS


χαμουτζής

Στα βορειοελλαδίτικα, ο Αθηναίος. Προέρχεται από τοχάμω δηλαδή κάτω.
A north-Greece slang term for an Athenian (from the ancient and modern word for "on the ground"

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

kibaris


κιμπάρης





Άνθρωπος αξιοπρεπής -
τζέντλεμαν, με την πραγματική έννοια. 

Ντόμπρος και λίγο βαρύς, χωρίς περιττά λόγια. 

Καλοντυμένος, ίσως και ακριβά ντυμένος, αλλά ποτέ επιδεικτικός.

Χωρίς μικρότητες, δεν τσιγκουνεύεται τα λεφτά. Δεν είναι απαραίτητα κονομημένος αλλά ξοδεύει γενναιόδωρα χωρίς όμως να κάνει επίδειξη.

Μια γυναίκα μπορεί να είναι κιμπάρισσαΈνα πράγμα - ρούχο, έπιπλο, κόσμημα - μπορεί να είναι κιμπάρικοΗ ιδιότητα του κιμπάρη είναι το κιμπαριλίκι - μια αρχοντιά, τέλος πάντων.
As is highlighted above, this word kee--BAR-eess means a gentleman, well dressed without being showy. Also honest and without talking too much.
This is the song from whcih I learnt this word:

Monday, December 17, 2012

bathrobe

I've known for a long time that bathrobe was bournouzi, but it's obviously not a Greek word and I waswondering whence it came. Apparently, it's Arabic, a hooded garment called a bournouse:


Sunday, December 16, 2012

λίκνισμα

I"ve heard this song thousands of times, and it didn't occur to me until today that I didn't know what liknisma meant. I hadn't even thought about it... apparently it means rock or sway.. in this song it's "the swaying of the sand," which is more poetic than it is logical:

αν ήτανε η αγκαλιά σου όαση
θα σου 'φερνα δισκάκια για ακρόαση
στο λίκνισμα της άμμου
στάλα η καρδιά μου
κι η διψασμένη μου ψυχή στρατός
και πάνω της ζωής ο αετός

if your embrace was an oasis,
I'd be bringing you little discs for you to listen to
to the swaying of the sand
my heart a droplet
and my thirsty soul an army
and up above, the eagle of life.

See? Beautiful but not interpretable to me. 

Monday, December 10, 2012

κρεμανταλάς


There are so many blog words in this song! New one: κρεμανταλάς, gawker, lubber (which  I didn't know in English either), and φάκα which I learned recently.

How about ντούμπλε-φας, which just means double faced!

absinthe

αψέντι:

distilled, highly alcoholic (45–74% ABV / 90-148 proof) beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium (a.k.a. "grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but may also be colourless

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

υφαλος

ΗULL, of a ship. Also a reef at the bottom of the sea. 

σταυρόνημα / στόχαστρο

crosshairs/ sights / reticle. Came up in conversation with Mike Horton, who went from Trauma theory to weapons.