Search results

Thanks for the invaluable information, Neikos. I gather from slang.gr that μπας κλας is from the French basse classe not from the English bus class. I have seen somewhere a diagram of the μάγκας with all his characteristic items of wear labelled. Sorry I was late in answering---the house has...

Thanks, 'Man. What is the name of the traditional hat the μάγκας wears?:) Is it καβουράκι;

What is the difference between these two hats? Which one is the traditional dress of the ντερβίσης in the τεκέδες; In the song Και οι γκόμενες φορέσανε τραγιάσκες [which Neikos has given me invaluable help in translating into English], what type of hat is envisaged---that of the μάγκας or the...

Thanks for all this fascinating information, everyone. Άκροκεφαλίδα comes up in images as a Mediterranean songbird! "Οι Ακροκέφαλοι είναι μικρά, εντομοφάγα πουλιά. Το φτέρωμα τους είναι καφετί στη ράχη και υπόλευκο στην κοιλιά.' The link Nickel provided is highly instructive! I now know...

A bonnet in the sense oh headgear, used by women: In the mid-17th and 18th century house bonnets worn by women and girls were generally brimless headcoverings which were secured by tying under the chin, and which covered no part of the forehead. They were worn indoors, to keep the hair tidy...

Thanks, SBE and Themis. I was perplexed by Στου and thought it was a variant of στο as κάτου can be for κάτω in some dialects. But στου it was in Κιθάρα and I have found that site generally reliable. So Στο Χερουβείμ επάνω means 'at the beginning of the Cherubic hymn' as a friend translated it...

Thanks, SBE! I have memorised the useful idiom for 'had a thriving business'--έκανε χρυσές δουλειές. Thanks as ever for your contribution.:)

Thanks, Neikos. I read the slang.gr article but didn't really understand it. Thanks for the ΛΚΝ cross reference. Your explanation was excellent!:)

Thanks, Sarant! Am I right on the Στου Χερουβείμ;:)

What exactly are δουλειές με φούντες? There are several explanations online, talking about pom-poms or hasish buds or Byzantine 'bum bags' but some say the word has bad connotations, 'complicated chores with bad consequences' or the opposite--lucrative jobs. They go on to derive it from the...

Thanks, Neikos! I understand it now. Another point: why is it Στου Χερουβείμ απάνω; Does it mean 'at the point in the liturgy when the Cherubikon is sung'...I don't understand the Στου rather than στα. :(

Thanks, Sarant. So είναι για να με κλαις is literally '(the situation) is so that you [i.e. one] would cry for me', δηλ. I am in a pitiful state. Is this an idiom? Or a phrase that makes sense in this sort of context? [BTW I have come across a proverb whose meaning is unclear to me: 'Για χάρη...

A few queries about this well-known song sung by Mary Linda:- Στίχοι: Γιάννης Θεοδωράκης Μουσική: Μίκης Θεοδωράκης Πρώτη εκτέλεση: Μαίρη Λίντα Στην εκκλησιά εμπήκα για να λειτουργηθώ, αχ και σε θωρώ, γύρισ' ο κόσμος άλλαξε η πλάση μου `φυγε το μυαλό. Άγιε μου μεγάλη χάρη, άγιε μου παρακαλώ...

Thanks, 'Man. :)

Nickel wrote this in his article on 'Allusions':- κόσμου. Για τους Αγγλοσάξονες κοινός κώδικας είναι και τα έργα του Σέξπιρ. Αν είναι κάποια πολύ γνωστή φράση, σαν το «Να ζει κανείς ή να μη ζει», θα μπει και ο Έλληνας αναγνώστης στο κόλπο, είναι αμφίβολο όμως κατά πόσο θα συμβεί αυτό με την...

I've also now realised that here the dead man speaks to his beloved, not to his mother as I first surmised.:)

Four queries: presumably περάσουνε (l.3) is here from παίρνω; what part of βγαίνω is έβγα; does με in Cretan dialect mean μου sometimes? And why are the kolyva έρμα. That's for a quick help to enable a translation,:)

Sorry I'm late in saying thank you,'Man. I always look forward to your replies and the link from the help you gave me is invaluable. I hadn't realised that the couplet was from from a woman's lament for her son, who speaks as it were, from the bier. I am in the process of trying to translate...

Thanks for this similar mantinada couplet, Nickel. I have since realised that the original of this very powerful one had also been omitted in the Nick Papandreou website: When they open wide the church door to bear his body hither, I’ll drag forth such a savage cry the wild greens will wither...

Thanks for this translation into Scots, 'Man! I didn't realise that such a translation had ever been made!