Idioms and slang challenge
If you have ever tried to speak to Greeks or if you watch Greek series, I am sure that you realized that Greeks use a lot of idioms, a lot of phrases that make no sense in your own language. We have learned many of them in three previous videos. So today you have the chance to check how many of them you remember. Also there are new idioms. Try to understand their meaning from the context and write in the comments your score. At the end of the video I will explain to you the meaning of the new idioms and in the description box you will find the links of the idioms we have already learned.
We will listen to some short dialogues.
First. A boy says: Κάτι γίνεται. Κάποιοι μαλώνουν στον δρόμο. Θα πάω να δω. / Something is happening. Some people are arguing in the street. I will go to see.
And his mother says:
Α. Κάτσε στ’ αβγά σου. Είναι επικίνδυνο./ Sit on your eggs. It is dangerous.
B. Δεν ξέρουν την τύφλα τους. Είναι επικίνδυνο./ They don’t know their blindness. It is dangerous.
And the correct answer is κάτσε στ’ αβγά σου. Είναι επικίνδυνο. Κάτσε στα αυγά σου literally means “sit on your eggs” and we use it when we want to ask from someone to stay uninvolved. You can find the meaning of the wrong in all these examples idioms in the description.
Second. The first person says: Μη φωνάζεις, σε παρακαλώ. Ηρέμησε. Γίναμε ρεζίλι./Don’t shout please. Calm down. Γίνομαι ρεζίλι means “to make a fool of oneself”.
And the second person says:
a. Πώς να μη φωνάζω! Τα πήρα στο κρανίο. /How to not shouting/how to stop yelling. I got them on the skull.
b. Πώς να μη φωνάζω! Να μου τρυπήσεις τη μύτη./ How to not shouting/how to stop yelling. Pierce my nose.
The correct answer is again the first one. Τα παίρνω στο κρανίο literally means “I take them on the skull” and we use it when we want to say “I am getting angry”. So “how to stop yelling. I got angry”.
Third. My friend says: Θέλεις να σου διηγηθώ ξανά το χθεσινό μου ραντεβού με τον Δημήτρη;/ Do you want me to narrate to you again my yesterday’s date with Dimitris?
Α. Όχι. Κάνε την πάπια./ No. Do the duck
Β. Όχι. Μου έφαγες τα αυτιά. / No. You ate my ears.
The correct answer is the second. Μου έφαγες τα αυτιά means “you ate my ears” and it is a phrase we use when someone speaks loudly and he talks about a topic again and again.
Fourth: A woman says to her husband: Γιατί δεν έβγαλες τα ρούχα από το πλυντήριο; / why didn’t you take the clothes out of the washing machine? And his answer is:
Α. Πού να ξέρω ότι έβαλες πλυντήριο; Να μυρίσω τα νύχια μου; / How do I know/how could I know/ how am I supposed to know that you did the laundry? Should I sniff my fingernails?
Β. Πού να ξέρω ότι έβαλες πλυντήριο; Να πετάξω χαρταετό;/ How am I supposed to know that you did the laundry? Should I fly a kite?
The first is the correct answer. We use the phrase “να μυρίσω τα νύχια μου;” to say “should I guess?” An idiom related to the ancient Greek culture. You can find everything about it in the third part of the idioms lesson. You will find the link in the description.
Fifth: The first person says: Θα βρεθούμε στις 20.30, γιατί στις 21.00 πρέπει να είμαστε στο θέατρο./ We will meet at 20.30 because at 21.00 we have to be at theatre.
Α. Αν έρθει η Μαρία στην ώρα της, εγώ θα φάω το ξύλο της αρκούδας./ Ιf Μaria comes on time, I will eat the bear’s wood.
Β. Αν έρθει η Μαρία στην ώρα της, εμένα να μου τρυπήσεις τη μύτη./ Ιf Maria comes on time, pierce my nose.
The correct answer is the second. The phrase να μου τρυπήσεις τη μύτη literally means “pierce my nose” and we use it when we are sure about something and if we are wrong the other person can do anything bad to us, like piercing our nose.
Sixth: The first person says: Θα ξαναβγείς τελικά με τον Γιώργο; / Will you finally go out again with George?
Α. Όχι, βέβαια. Αυτός αλλάζει τις γυναίκες σαν τα πουκάμισα./ Οf course not. He changes women like shirts.
Β. Όχι, βέβαια. Αυτός βγήκε έξω από τα ρούχα του./ Of course not. He came out of his clothes.
The first one is the correct answer. We use the phrase “αυτός αλλάζει τις γυναίκες σαν τα πουκάμισα” for someone who jumps from one relationship immediately into another.
Seventh: Maria says: Eίχα μία πολύ δύσκολη μέρα στη δουλειά. Ο νέος μας διευθυντής είναι αγενής και συμπεριφέρεται σε όλους άσχημα. / I had a very difficult day at work. Our new manager is rude and he treats everyone badly.
Her husband says a few minutes later:
Γνώρισες τον νέο σας διευθυντή; Είναι καλός; / Did you meet your new manager? Is he good?
Maria’s response is :
Α. Μόλις σου είπα ότι ο νέος μας διευθυντής είναι δύσκολος άνθρωπος, αλλά με δουλεύεις./I just told you that our new manager is a difficult person but you are working me.
Β. Μόλις σου είπα ότι ο νέος μας διευθυντής είναι δύσκολος άνθρωπος, αλλά με γράφεις./ I just told you that our new manager is a difficult person but you are writing me.
The second is the correct answer. Με γράφεις literally means “you are writing me” and it is an informal way to say “you are ignoring me”.
Eighth: Nikos says: Αύριο γράφω εξετάσεις, αλλά δεν έχω όρεξη για διάβασμα. Θα πάρω τη Μαρία τηλέφωνο να τη ρωτήσω εάν θέλει να πάμε για ποτό./ Tomorrow I write exams but I don’t feel like studying. I will call Maria to ask her if she wants to go for a drink.
His mother says:
Α. Είσαι για τα πανηγύρια./ You are for the festivals.
Β. Νηστικό αρκούδι δε χορεύει./ A hungry bear does not dance.
The first is the correct answer. We say that a person “is for the festivals” when he cares only about having a good time.
And now choose the correct sentence.
Α. Ο Κώστας της στέλνει συνέχεια γραπτά μηνύματα, αλλά εκείνη τον γράφει στα παλιά της τα παπούτσια./ Kostas sends to her text messages all the time, but she writes him on her old shoes.
Β. Ο Κώστας της στέλνει συνέχεια γραπτά μηνύματα, αλλά εκείνη δεν πάει καλά./ Kostas sends to her text messages all the time, but she doesn’t go well.
The correct sentence is the first one. Σε γράφω στα παλιά μου τα παπούτσια literally means “I am writing you on my old shoes” and we use it when we want to say to someone that we don’t care about his opinion.
Next one:
Α. Σε ψάχνω εδώ και μία ώρα. Έφαγα ξύλο./ I’ ve been looking for you for an hour. I ate wood.
Β. σε ψάχνω εδώ και μία ώρα. Έφαγα τον κόσμο να σε βρω./ I have been looking for you for an hour. I ate the world to find you.
The second is the correct sentence. The phrase “έφαγα τον κόσμο να σε βρω” literally means “I ate the world to find you” and we use it when we find someone after we were looking for him for a long time everywhere.
Last sentence:
Α. Εγώ έσπασα το βάζο, αλλά θα κάνω την πάπια./ I broke the vase, but I will do the duck.
Β. Εγώ έσπασα το βάζο, αλλά θα σε χορέψω στο ταψί./ I broke the vase but I will make you dance on the baking sheet.
The correct sentence is the first one.
Κάνω την πάπια/I do the duck. A phrase we often use when we do something bad and we don’t mention it to avoid trouble.
Well, I hope that you cannot understand what you see in this picture. Some years ago, now thank God it is illegal in Greece, there were not theatres and cinemas in villages, so this was a way of entertainment. So in this picture we can see μία αρκούδα/ a bear- a dancing bear and έναν αρκουδιάρη/ let’s say a bear trainer. These trainers to teach to bears how to dance they were placing very young bears-cubs on hot metal sheets, like a ταψί/like a baking sheet and at the same time they were playing a musical instrument, usually a drum or a tambourine. The only thing the cubs could do to avoid the pain was to hop from one foot to the other. After this torture was repeated again and again, the hot metal sheets were no longer needed. The sound of music was enough to make the bears start dancing. So when we use the phrase Θα σε χορέψω στο ταψί, which literally means “I will make you dance on the baking sheet”, we mean “ I will make you suffer”.
In addition to this cruel training, the trainers were also hitting the bears to make them more obedient, so we use the phrase Θα φας το ξύλο της αρκούδας. Ιt literally means “you will eat the bears wood” and we mean : I will beat you mercilessly, the same way I hit a bear.
When finally the cub was able to do successfully something, to dance for example, the trainer was giving to it something to eat. So when we say today νηστικό αρκούδι δε χορεύει / a hungry bear does not dance, we mean that the hungry person or metaphorically the person who takes a bad salary, cannot work.
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