# στα τέσσερα



## Theseus (Mar 25, 2017)

The words in bold I need help with. At last the very end of the infamous article I have finished!

Όλα υποκοριστικά… ζωούλα, δουλίτσα, σπιτάκι, παιδάκια. Όλα υποκοριστικά, μη τυχόν και τα δουν και *του τα πάρουν.*

ΝΑΙ ΣΕ ΟΛΑ λοιπόν. Αλλά μη λες πως δεν σ’ αρέσει *στα τέσσερα* κι επαναληπτικώς εις αεί.

The first του makes absolutely no sense to me. Does στα τέσσερα here mean 'when you are brought to your knees'. mg::down:


----------



## Themis (Mar 25, 2017)

Theseus said:


> The first του makes absolutely no sense to me. Does στα τέσσερα here mean 'when you are brought to your knees'.


1) from him
2) subdued (clear sexual connotation)


----------



## Theseus (Mar 25, 2017)

Να είσαι καλά, Θέμι.


----------



## daeman (Mar 25, 2017)

Theseus said:


> ...Does στα τέσσερα here mean 'when you are brought to your knees'. mg::down:



(down) on all fours, figuratively, but not in the legal sense.


----------



## Theseus (Mar 25, 2017)

Oops! I didn't think there was any sexual reference in this context....:)


----------



## SBE (Mar 26, 2017)

And of course the correct expression is:
εσαεί= for all time, forever

Another reason to avoid dodgy sites and blogs with bad grammar.


----------



## Theseus (Mar 26, 2017)

Thanks, SBE, as always for your kind but rigorous help....


----------



## SBE (Mar 26, 2017)

I also think that μη τυχόν και τα δουν και του τα πάρουν should be μη τυχόν και τα δουν και *σου* τα πάρουν. Because the text is the author addressing an imaginary person. 
So, unlike my esteemed fellow Lexilogians, I will engage and provide some context, even though we are not in the political section: 

So in the first part the author is deriding the other person for having small/ humble aspirations and expectations and wanting to live the "quiet life"- usually expressed by diminuitives. For example everyone in Greece aspires to ένα σπιτάκι, even if said house is a mansion. Earion said a couple of months ago in another discussion that this humble vocabulary is religious in origin, which I had never thought of before- I always put it down to the hypocrisy of the haves who want to appear equal to the have-not's.

In the second part the writer uses an expression that became part of the political vocabulary in Greece around the time of the article, when the deputy PM used it in parliament to describe the negotiation tactics of his predecessors and was then used by certain MPs as a war cry against those who disagreed with them, and eventually by the general public. 

Hopefully this context will give you an idea of what the ramblings of the author are about. And I shall digress with half a political comment (you can fill in the other half): Theseus, you said the other day you had not realised how bad the financial situation was in Greece. I hope you can now see that the financial problem is not the most serious problem, because it will some day go away.


----------



## Theseus (Mar 26, 2017)

Thanks, SBE. I can guess the other half.mg::huh:


----------



## Earion (Mar 29, 2017)

SBE said:


> Earion said a couple of months ago in another discussion that this humble vocabulary is religious in origin, which I had never thought of before.



Me neither! mg: Where? When?


----------



## SBE (Mar 29, 2017)

Νομίζω σε συζήτηση για το ότι οι Έλληνες μια ζωή λένε ότι δεν πανε καλά και ας τα λέμε καλά κλπ.


----------

