(This is a modified and expanded version of an older post at translatum. It was written in English as part of it was my contribution to an English forum.)
“Ftou” is the Greek onomatopoeic word for the sound of spitting.
We use it as an expletive, similar to ‘blast’, to show disappointment; or to show disgust. For example:
We also use it, repeated three times, to ward off the evil eye, or in expressions such as:
In the 3rd c. BC, Theophrastus wrote in Characters (ο Θεόφραστος στους Χαρακτήρες) (16.14):
μαινόμενον δὲ ἰδὼν ἢ ἐπίληπτον φρίξας εἰς κόλπον πτύσαι. (If [the superstitious man] sees a madman or an epileptic, he will shudder and spit into his bosom.)
and Theocritus in Idylls (ο Θεόκριτος στα Ειδύλλια) (6.39):
ὡς μὴ βασκανθῶ δέ, τρὶς εἰς ἐμὸν ἔπτυσα κόλπον (To avoid the evil eye, I spat thrice in my bosom.)
In Greece today (according to Elvin Ember’s Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology, section GREEKS, Evil Eye, p. 684):
Greeks are definitely not alone in this practice, from the days of Pliny to superstitious people almost everywhere and at all times:
There’s also the expression «φτου κι απ’ την αρχή» (back to square one, here we go again), which has an interesting background history.
In the days when schoolchildren used writing slates to practise their writing, whenever they had filled up the slate with whatever they were writing, they had to rub the slate clean with a sponge. This sponge was not always wet, so the children would have to wet the sponge or the surface of the slate with a bit of spittle. Sometimes their fingers or the end of a sleeve would act as a sponge. The expression used for this repetitive (and hence very tiring) process was «Φτου κι απ’ την αρχή» (literally, "Ptui and from the start").
Interestingly, the English idiom ‘start from scratch' is linked to cricket and other sports. According to Michael Quinion:
To return to the onomatopoeic, I find it curious that most English dictionaries seem to lack an entry for the English equivalent (unless we consider phooey as one). Random House (1998) and Webster's New World College Dictionary (2005) have ptui (used to suggest the sound of spitting: sometimes sp. ptooey).
Urban Dictionary has ptooey (with a totally inappropriate misspelling of ‘onomatopoeic’):
A blogger who believes ptooey may be a borrowing of the Greek ftou has this entry from the OED:
“Ftou” is the Greek onomatopoeic word for the sound of spitting.
We use it as an expletive, similar to ‘blast’, to show disappointment; or to show disgust. For example:
Φτου, ατυχία!
Φτου να πάρει (ο διάολος)!
Φτου, γαμώτο!
Φτου, σκουληκομυρμηγκότρυπα.
Φτου σου, δεν ντρέπεσαι!
Φτου σου, αλήτη!
Φτου σας, ρεζίλια!
Φτου να πάρει (ο διάολος)!
Φτου, γαμώτο!
Φτου, σκουληκομυρμηγκότρυπα.
Φτου σου, δεν ντρέπεσαι!
Φτου σου, αλήτη!
Φτου σας, ρεζίλια!
We also use it, repeated three times, to ward off the evil eye, or in expressions such as:
Φτου να μη βασκαθείς!
Φτου να μη σε ματιάσω!
Φτου να μη σε ματιάσω!
In the 3rd c. BC, Theophrastus wrote in Characters (ο Θεόφραστος στους Χαρακτήρες) (16.14):
μαινόμενον δὲ ἰδὼν ἢ ἐπίληπτον φρίξας εἰς κόλπον πτύσαι. (If [the superstitious man] sees a madman or an epileptic, he will shudder and spit into his bosom.)
and Theocritus in Idylls (ο Θεόκριτος στα Ειδύλλια) (6.39):
ὡς μὴ βασκανθῶ δέ, τρὶς εἰς ἐμὸν ἔπτυσα κόλπον (To avoid the evil eye, I spat thrice in my bosom.)
In Greece today (according to Elvin Ember’s Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology, section GREEKS, Evil Eye, p. 684):
To forestall the undesirable effects of the evil eye, and to avoid being blamed for causing another’s misfortune, one should either avoid making compliments, especially of babies and children, who are thought to be especially vulnerable to the evil eye, or be thoughtful enough to bracket one’s admiration with an apotropaic gesture: formulaic spitting, or making the sound of spitting (“ftou”) three times, or uttering a ritual phrase.
Greeks are definitely not alone in this practice, from the days of Pliny to superstitious people almost everywhere and at all times:
The most favorite Jewish superstition is spitting three times, noisily as possible, after discussing something horrible. For example: "Did you hear that Yafa was run over by a steamroller? Tfu tfu tfu!!!" The "mehadrin" (or the strictly superstitious) combine spitting and knocking on wood, just to stay on the safe side.
There’s also the expression «φτου κι απ’ την αρχή» (back to square one, here we go again), which has an interesting background history.
In the days when schoolchildren used writing slates to practise their writing, whenever they had filled up the slate with whatever they were writing, they had to rub the slate clean with a sponge. This sponge was not always wet, so the children would have to wet the sponge or the surface of the slate with a bit of spittle. Sometimes their fingers or the end of a sleeve would act as a sponge. The expression used for this repetitive (and hence very tiring) process was «Φτου κι απ’ την αρχή» (literally, "Ptui and from the start").
Interestingly, the English idiom ‘start from scratch' is linked to cricket and other sports. According to Michael Quinion:
To start from scratch is to begin from the beginning, to set out on some action or process without any prior preparation, knowledge or advantage.
Scratch has been known since the middle of the eighteenth century as a sporting term for a line scratched on the ground that acted as a boundary line or starting point. The first example in the Oxford English Dictionary actually relates to cricket and indicated the crease, the line drawn in front of the stumps where the batsman stands. But the term is much better known from boxing, or rather from bare-knuckle fighting, in reference to the line drawn across the ring to which the boxers are brought to begin their bout. This gave rise to expressions like to be up to scratch, to meet the required standard in something.
[The phrase to start from scratch] appeared a century later, by which time scratch had also come to mean the starting line for a race. Competitors who began from this line had the least favourable handicap and so were given no advantage. To start from scratch meant you had been allowed no odds in your favour. It has been generalised from that.
Scratch has been known since the middle of the eighteenth century as a sporting term for a line scratched on the ground that acted as a boundary line or starting point. The first example in the Oxford English Dictionary actually relates to cricket and indicated the crease, the line drawn in front of the stumps where the batsman stands. But the term is much better known from boxing, or rather from bare-knuckle fighting, in reference to the line drawn across the ring to which the boxers are brought to begin their bout. This gave rise to expressions like to be up to scratch, to meet the required standard in something.
[The phrase to start from scratch] appeared a century later, by which time scratch had also come to mean the starting line for a race. Competitors who began from this line had the least favourable handicap and so were given no advantage. To start from scratch meant you had been allowed no odds in your favour. It has been generalised from that.
To return to the onomatopoeic, I find it curious that most English dictionaries seem to lack an entry for the English equivalent (unless we consider phooey as one). Random House (1998) and Webster's New World College Dictionary (2005) have ptui (used to suggest the sound of spitting: sometimes sp. ptooey).
Urban Dictionary has ptooey (with a totally inappropriate misspelling of ‘onomatopoeic’):
*Onomatopoetic word originating from the sound made by spitting. Used to indicate disgust.
"That's not Coke, it's Dr Pepper."
"What?! Ack! Ew! Ptooey ptooey!"
"That's not Coke, it's Dr Pepper."
"What?! Ack! Ew! Ptooey ptooey!"
A blogger who believes ptooey may be a borrowing of the Greek ftou has this entry from the OED:
ptooey, 19- ptui. [Imitative. Compare PFUI int., PHOOEY int., and also PTISH int., PSHAW int., etc.]
1930 O. LATTIMORE High Tartary xxvii. 273 ‘Ptui! Wrong again! Will you ever be fit for Official life? Ptui!’ Thus the Great Man, pursuing his orderly with a flying gob of spittle. 1977 Rolling Stone 5 May 5/2 Ptooey! Who'd stand for it? 1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 26 Aug. F6/1 What do you think this is, Lollapalooza? Ptui.
1930 O. LATTIMORE High Tartary xxvii. 273 ‘Ptui! Wrong again! Will you ever be fit for Official life? Ptui!’ Thus the Great Man, pursuing his orderly with a flying gob of spittle. 1977 Rolling Stone 5 May 5/2 Ptooey! Who'd stand for it? 1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 26 Aug. F6/1 What do you think this is, Lollapalooza? Ptui.
