Greek metaphorical phrases

 

Greek metaphorical phrases

Today we will talk about the most popular metaphorical phrases we use to make our speech more vivid, more beautiful. Let’s see first of all the meaning of 2 very important words for today’s lesson.

Κυριολεξία/Literalism and μεταφορά/metaphor. When we use the words with their literal meaning we say that we talk literally, when we don’t use the words with their literal meaning we talk metaphorically. Let’s see an example to understand what is a metaphor.

Φοράω χρυσά σκουλαρίκια/ “I wear gold earrings”. I use the word gold to tell you of what  material my earrings are made, but when I say that Ο Γιώργος έχει χρυσή καρδιά/George has a gold heart, of course I don’t mean that his heart is of gold, but that he has a very good heart, that he has a very good character.

Now that we understood what is a metaphor, let’s see the most popular phrases. The metaphorical phrases like the similes that we learned in the former lesson will help you to understand the Greeks better and to speak better.

So we said that when someone is very good, we say that he has a gold heart. Also we can say Χρυσό παιδί ο Γιώργος/“George is a gold guy”. Again it means that George has a good character. If we are talking about a woman we can say Χρυσή κοπέλα η Παναγιώτα./“Panagiota is a gold girl”. The adjective χρυσός-χρυσή-χρυσό /gold is often used in metaphorical phrases because of the economic importance of this material.

Let’s see a new metaphor. When we want to say that someone is very rich we say that τρώει με χρυσά κουτάλια/he eats with gold spoons.

Many metaphorical phrases we use with the word δόντι/“tooth” as well. For example: Ήλιος με δόντια/sun with teeth. Of course we don’t mean that the sun has teeth. It is a metaphor used very often at winter when it is sunny but the temperature is very law.

When we say Πονάει το δόντι του Γιώργου/“George’s tooth hurts” we mean that he has to go to the dentist, but when we say Πονάει το δοντάκι του /“his little tooth hurts” it means that he is interested in a woman. It is usually about a phrase we use about someone who is in love but he doesn’t admit his feelings. Έχει δύο μήνες που χώρισαν, αλλά ακόμη πονάει το δοντάκι της/“it’s two months since they broke up, but still her little tooth hurts”, so she still cares about him.

The food that has much salt we say that it is salty, but when you live in Greece also a price can be salty. Ωραίο είναι το σπίτι, αλλά η τιμή του είναι πολύ αλμυρή/“the house is beautiful but the price is quite salty/expensive”

When we learn bad news and we are disappointed we say Πέφτω από τα σύννεφα/“I fall from the clouds”. Of course I cannot literally fall from the clouds but I use the phrase to emphasize that I feel disappointed.

Let’s go to the next metaphorical phrase. George says η μαμά μου κόβει το ψωμί σε φέτες/“my mom slices the bread” and he speaks literally, but his mom, as every Greek mom who feels super proud because she believes that she gave birth to Einstein says Κόβει το μυαλό του γιου μου/“my son’s brain cuts”. When we say that someone’s mind cuts we mean that he is smart.

When we want to say to someone that we are listening carefully to what he is telling, that we are interested in the topic he is talking about, we can sat κρέμομαι από τα χείλη σου/“I am hanging from your lips”. Contrariwise when we talk to someone and we understand that he doesn’t listen to us we usually say to him πού ταξιδεύει ο νους σου;/“where is your mind travelling?”. With this way we ask him what is he thinking about.

When we speak literally we say that a dove flies, but we can also use the verb to πετάω/fly metaphorically too. When I want to say that I am very happy, we say πετάω από τη χαρά μου/ “I am flying because of my happiness”.

The αηδόνι/nightingale is a very beautiful bird that sings with a unique way. This is why when someone has a very good voice, either if he is a singer or not, we say that είναι αηδόνι/he is a nightingale.

The child that is very mischievous we say that είναι θηρίο/it is a beast and the good and quiet child είναι αρνί/ is a lamb. He who is very light/he has a few kg, we say that είναι πούπουλο/he is a feather.

Normally we say that μασάμε την τροφή μας/we chew our food. When we say that someone chews his words/ μασάει τα λόγια του, we mean that he doesn’t speak clearly, that he tries to hide something.

Someone eats his food but when you are a Greek you also eat wood. Tρώω ξύλο/I eat wood means that someone beats me. Also for someone who is too jealous we say that the jealousy is eating him/τον τρώει η ζήλια, so he is so jealous that he harms himself.

   

How to use the word σαν. Simile or clause of time?

How to use the word σαν. Simile or clause of time?

In this lesson we are going to learn how to use the word σαν, a small word that can be used in many different ways and today we will talk about two of them. The most common way to use the word is in a παρομοίωση/it is the comparison of one thing to another of a different kind in order to make the description more vivid/ so it is the simile.

There are several ways to form a simile in Greek, such as using the words όπως, μοιάζει, λες και, όμοιος με ….but the most often used word to make a comparison is the word σαν.

For example: Πεινάω σαν λύκος. I am hungry as a wolf.

There are 2 different ways to make these comparisons with the word σαν. The first one is to use the word σαν and then a noun in nominative without article. Remember our example. Πεινάω σαν λύκος.  Let’s see some new examples.

Αυτό το μέρος είναι όμορφο σαν ζωγραφιά. This place is beautiful like a painting.

Η Μαρία είναι πολύ ντροπαλή. Όταν της μιλάς γίνεται κόκκινη σαν παπαρούνα. Maria is very shy. When you talk to her she turns red like a poppy.

The other way is to use σαν and then the definite article and a noun in accusative.

Example: Είναι κρύος σαν τον πάγο. He is cold like the ice. Of course here we can use this phrase metaphorically too for someone who is emotionally unavailable.

Δουλεύω σαν το σκυλί. I work like a dog, we mean I work hard and we have σαν, the definite article and the noun in Accusative.

It is not wrong to say «Δουλεύω σαν σκύλος». Ιn this sentence we have σαν and the noun in nominative without article.

 So if we want to make a comparison we can use the word σαν and then a noun in nominative without article or the word σαν, a definite article and a noun in Accusative.  

Let’s learn now some new similes.

Ντυμένος σαν γαμπρός. Dressed like a groom.

To someone who is very well dressed we say that he is dressed like a groom. For example Maria says to her 20 year old son:

 -Πού πας; “where are you going?”. Her son says:

-Πάω σινεμά με τους φίλους μου. “to the cinema with my friends”.

-Πας σινεμά με τους φίλους σου ντυμένος σαν γαμπρός;/“are you going to the cinema with your friends dressed like a groom?

His mom is sure that he is going to meet a girl.

The next one:

Ψηλός – ψηλή – ψηλό σαν κυπαρίσσι. Τall like a cypress. When someone is very tall we say that he is tall like a cypress.

 And when we want to say that someone is too tough we say that he is σκληρός σαν ατσάλι/tough/hard as steel so he is strong and determined. He can tolerate difficulties or suffering.

For someone who is extremely pale like I am we say είναι άσπρος σαν το γάλα /he is white like the milk or είναι άσπρος σαν το χιόνι/he is white like the snow.

After the word σαν we can also have the strong form of the personal pronouns in accusative or other pronouns, adverbs, verbs, nouns in genitive, but we will talk about them in another lesson. Today except for the similes we will learn how this word can introduce an adverbial clause of time. So sometimes we can use the word σαν instead of the word όταν/when. “Σαν πας στην Καλαμάτα και έρθεις με το καλό, φέρε μου ένα μαντίλι να δέσω στον λαιμό”says a traditional greek song and we mean “when you go to Kalamata and you come back, bring me a bandana to tie around my neck.

Όταν έγινε 18 χρονών, έφυγε από το σπίτι του. When he became 18 he left his house.

My favorite poet Konstantinos Kavafis says in one of his most popular poems:

Σαν βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη, να εύχεσαι να είναι μακρύς ο δρόμος. Αs you set out for Ithaka, hope the voyage is a long one. So in the last examples the word σαν is not the word we use to compare but it is a word used more often in literature instead of the word όταν to introduce an adverbial clause of time.