Definition of 'pooh sticks' in Greek

[Theseus]

It seems from another friend that most Greeks have never heard of the term or the game. One friend said that in his area of Greece there were no books with bridges over. Can one of the forum imagine that s/he were an Englishman trying to explain this game to another by saying in Greek 'it's game in which each player drops a stick into a stream over the upstream side of a bridge, the winner being the person whose stick emerges first from under the bridge'. This definition could be abbreviated into a simple 'stick racing' (κλαροδρομία??).

 

[Palavra]

I'm afraid that using one word won't work. Maybe αγώνα δρόμου στο νερό με κλαράκια, but you'd still need to explain it.

 

[Theseus]

Excellent. I was sure that it was a pretty widespread game, since there is an international competition held annually. Two or three years ago a Czech competitor won the event. Could you translate for me into Greek: 'it is a game in which each player throws a stick over the upstream side of a bridge into a stream or river, the winner being the person whose stick emerges first from under the bridge.' I'd be grateful.

 

[Palavra]

Είναι ένα παιχνίδι στο οποίο οι παίκτες πετούν κλαράκια από μια γέφυρα στο ποτάμι και κερδίζει εκείνος του οποίου το κλαράκι θα εμφανιστεί πρώτο στο νερό από την άλλη μεριά της γέφυρας.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks so much, as usual. Your expertise & input is always very valuable.

 

[SBE]

I can assure you Theseus that my generation are oblivious to Winnie the Pooh and other products of English children's literature. Beatrix Potter, Roald Dahl and Enyd Blighton are not exactly household names.
Scandinavian children's literature on the other hand...

 

[Theseus]

In one sense I wish I had never mentioned pooh sticks. The trouble is that, if I had asked if there was a Greek equivalent of stick-racing, some fellow lexilogist might have mentioned Winnie the Pooh & pooh sticks. Of course, disneyfication has had a massive influence in spreading globally the stories of Winnie & friends.
What I really wanted to know is if there is a similar game in Greece of children (or adults!) dropping sticks off a bridge over a stream & seeing whose stick came out the other side first, perhaps also a Greek name to go with it. We played this game often as children. Never once did we call it pooh sticks. Just stick-racing. It seemed such an obvious game. But different cultures have different games. Geography & climate can influence them.

 

[SBE]

There weren't any bridges or rivers where I grew up, so I wouldn't know a game like that.

 

[drsiebenmal]

There weren't any bridges or rivers where I grew up, so I wouldn't know a game like that.

I thought that must be it, too. There are no big tributary systems around the 5-6 bigger rivers of the mainland and the small streams passing near villages are probably without water during most of the year and dangerous during the winter, at times of heavy rains etc. I found this site with children's games from the era before 1960, in the region of Orestiada/Nea Vyssa, near the Evros river. The river is there only to swim... (Warning: heavy local dialect, I couldn't recognize/understand many words myself).

 

[Theseus]

Thanks so much, Dr. Many of those games have parallels with ones I played in the sixties and earlier. There is a fascinating wealth of information here, which has so many associations for me. 'Takes me back', as we say. It is clearly from a background of very many small streams & brooks crossed by bridges that our children developed 'stick-racing'. It is an obvious game that any schoolchild might play, as I did--& very occasionally do now with our grandchildren!--when there are sticks, water & bridges to hand. Unfortunately, I think that the name pooh sticks has caught on from Disney films & thus now become the only term.