To help learners of Greek, let’s make sure they understand the difference between these two terms (παπάρα and παπάρι). The derivation of the words presented here is obscure, so I’ll avoid any etymological references.
The earliest term παπάρα has an innocuous meaning: it’s the word for bread soaked in milk, sauce, or soup: sop. From it the offensive sense of silly talk has developed, often used in the plural (παπάρες).
A derivative term is παπάρας: a silly talker, a blatherer.
Παπάρι, on the other hand, is always vulgar. It means cock, prick (i.e. the penis) when used in the singular and balls (the testicles) when in the plural (παπάρια) — admittedly, a useful term with two close meanings.
There are more derivatives, such as παπαριά (nonsense), παπαρολογώ (talk nonsense), παπαρολογία (nonsensical talk).
I could imagine puns such as ‘παπα-Ρασπούτιν’ (Father Rasputin), which could also be read as ‘παπάρας Πούτιν’ (Putin the blatherer). That is the kind of pun that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, tried to make this week when, speaking in the Greek Parliament, he said ‘Paparadchenko’ in an effort to denigrate historian Sergey Radchenko and his research.
In a report of the story, the site Greek City Times wrote ‘Papara is a Greek slang word meaning penis’, which is not accurate, and most probably not the meaning that the General Secretary had in mind. He was simply trying to say that Radchenko speaks nonsense.
The historian’s reply to the General Secretary’s attack was much more dignified.
greekcitytimes.com
The earliest term παπάρα has an innocuous meaning: it’s the word for bread soaked in milk, sauce, or soup: sop. From it the offensive sense of silly talk has developed, often used in the plural (παπάρες).
A derivative term is παπάρας: a silly talker, a blatherer.
Παπάρι, on the other hand, is always vulgar. It means cock, prick (i.e. the penis) when used in the singular and balls (the testicles) when in the plural (παπάρια) — admittedly, a useful term with two close meanings.
There are more derivatives, such as παπαριά (nonsense), παπαρολογώ (talk nonsense), παπαρολογία (nonsensical talk).
I could imagine puns such as ‘παπα-Ρασπούτιν’ (Father Rasputin), which could also be read as ‘παπάρας Πούτιν’ (Putin the blatherer). That is the kind of pun that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, tried to make this week when, speaking in the Greek Parliament, he said ‘Paparadchenko’ in an effort to denigrate historian Sergey Radchenko and his research.
In a report of the story, the site Greek City Times wrote ‘Papara is a Greek slang word meaning penis’, which is not accurate, and most probably not the meaning that the General Secretary had in mind. He was simply trying to say that Radchenko speaks nonsense.
The historian’s reply to the General Secretary’s attack was much more dignified.
"Papara-chenko": Historian Who Received KKE's Scorn Gained 3,000 Greek Followers In Just A Few Hours
Unintentionally, academic and historian Sergey Radchenko found himself the protagonist of a modern Greek history drama despite the fact that his specialty is
greekcitytimes.com
