I f*** a barrel of saints with Christ as a lid

[Theseus]

Alexandra Fiada in her Xenophobe's guide to the Greeks says that γαμώ is used for 'swearing in earnest with family or religious terms'. She makes out that the imperative is used in all contexts i.e. 'F*** the Holy oil lamp' but I have encountered it usually as 'I f*** your mother/father/entire clan &c', more commonly, to avoid a direct insult, leading to blows, it's been I f*** my mother/father&c. But in parenthesis she says 'the prize should go to an old sailor who used to say 'f*** a barrel of saints with Christ as a lid'. Would the best Greek way of saying this be 'γαμώ ένα βαρέλι Αγίους με τον Χριστό καπάκι'. Unfortunately, she has also brought out a phrase book, which is meant to be humorous - it 'abounds in gems, like 'I am not related to the to the Elgins: I only took a pebble as a memento!'
I have a constitutional dislike to such phrase books. She would have better given the Greek original to some of the authentic phrases in her Xenophobe's guide to the Greeks rather than the phrases of varying worth in her Greek for Xenophobes. I accept that such books are the sort of reading material for many people to try out in Greece but apart from some good cultural stuff, they are like the curate's egg.
Incidentally, she did explain something I have never understood. I accidentally bumped into a young lady on a pedestrian crossing & said 'συγγνώμη'. She brushed her right cheek with her fingers & said ξούρες. According to Alexandra Fiada, the gesture meanings 'you're lying'.

 

[daeman]

...
Omitting genitives after nouns

With the particular barrelful of saints discussed in detail.

...
Also Alexandra Fiada in one of her books says, in the context of γαμώ idioms, that she heard the most outrageous of examples in the phrase said by an old sailor: 'γαμώ ένα βαρέλι [απ’?]αγίους[?] με τον Χριστό σαν ταπάκι [lid]'. the translation into Greek is mine, hence the probable inaccuracy: in any case, what case would άγιος be the accusative or genitive plural. And how would such an expletive be properly expressed in idiomatic Greek?
Ελπίζω ότι δεν είναι καθόλου προσβλητικό αυτό το δεύτερο της ερώτησης μου μέρος.

The phrase should be probably... με τον Χριστό καπάκι, which would mean something like a barrel full of saints and Christ over them, (like a crown a something).

It's all in accusative and, with ένα φλιτζάνι από τσάι, every Greek would understand a cup made of tea.

Hi Theseus,

There's another possibility for the particular expletive: Γαμώ ένα βαρέλι αγίους και τον Χριστό καπάκι, meaning a barrel full of saints and then Christ. Καπάκι is idiomatically used sometimes to signify a supplement to a meal or a series of drinks (similar to "nightcap"), therefore here it may be used as an intensifier of the first part.
...

How would one say then, a 'barrel of saints'--ένα βαρέλι αγίων;

Ένα βαρέλι (με) αγίους, because ένα βαρέλι αγίων would mean that the barrel belonged to saints
(or was made out of saints :woot:).


Edit: to move away from the saintly barrel examples, because some people might be annoyed:

a cup of tea: ένα φλιτζάνι τσάι (a cupful of tea)
a teacup: ένα φλιτζάνι του τσαγιού
a cup for tea: ένα φλιτζάνι για τσάι (it might be a coffee mug, but now we want to use it for tea)

... And daeman is right: Καπάκι can also mean right afterwards.

 

[Theseus]

I realise that this entry could be offensive but I am more interested in the grammar.:devil: It may well be that Ms Fiada actually 'mistranslated' the original sailor's expletive. The two suggestions 1) as an intensifier & 2) 'right afterwards make admirable sense'. Άγιους is the obvious accusative plural of Άγιος. Thanks to daeman for his help. I had forgotten I had already submitted a question on this topic - I am as our national bard remarked 'to dumb forgetfulness a prey'!:down:

 

[daeman]

...It may well be that Ms Fiada actually 'mistranslated' the original sailor's expletive. ...

In my opinion, somewhat informed in slang, she did. Unless she did explain it further, that "as a lid" is a literal rendering not conveying any meaning.

As for forgetfulness, don't worry, Theseus; it happens to all of us, especially here in Punxsutawney.
We even have a couple of icons specifically for that, the groundhoji (μαρμοτεικονίδια) :

...
Πανξουτόνι! Πανξουτόνι!

Σε εναιώρημα των 1.000 milliphil για οξείες κρίσεις πανξουτονίτιδας:

και σε δισκίο των 100 milliphil (μαρμοτεικονίδιο, marmoticon) για καθημερινή χρήση σε χρόνιες περιπτώσεις:

 

[daeman]

 

[Theseus]

All this information is greatly appreciated. I liked daeman's ατάκα. Next time I stub my toe I'll try to conjure up all the saints I can think of. It will take my mind off the pain!