Miscellanea about the word 'never'

[Theseus]

i) How would you translate into Greek:- Never say never again?

ii) What is the Greek for 'never but never' - a common idiom in English as for example:- 'Never but never will I shop there again!' Are ποτέ των ποτών or του Αγίου ποτέ possible?

iii) What is the exact context when you would use ποτέ σου and its meaning?

Thanks.

 

[Palavra]

1. Ποτέ μη λες ποτέ.
2. The second phrase could be rendered as «Δεν πρόκειται να ξαναψωνίσω εκεί ποτέ μου!» or «Δεν πρόκειται να ξαναψωνίσω εκεί ποτέ των ποτών!». The phrase "Του Αγίου Ποτέ" (which has also some other, obscene variations, such as this one), is mostly used for persons who put off things for an indefinite future.
   
   
   -Μου είπε ότι θα τακτοποιήσει το δωμάτιό του.
   -Πότε; Του Αγίου Ποτέ; Αφού έχει να συγυρίσει μήνες!​
3. Ποτέ σου can also be ποτέ σου να μη σώσεις, which is more like a curse, and a rough translation would be "may you die and never do (the thing I asked you to). This expression is used like this:
   
   -Αγάπη μου, θα έρθεις μαζί μου για ψώνια το Σάββατο;
   -Όχι, μωρό μου, θέλω να δω Τσάμπιονς Λιγκ το βράδυ και θέλω να είμαι ξεκούραστος.
   -Ποτέ σου! Τότε κι εγώ θα πάω με τον συνάδελφό μου το Μάκη, που μου την πέφτει κιόλας!​
   So, she asks him to go shopping, he says no, and she says "may you never come, I couldn't care less, I'll go with the guy from work"

 

[daeman]

"Never but never" can be translated word for word with the common expression ποτέ μα ποτέ (although that would also render "never ever"), but I think ποτέ των ποτών is more emphatic and appropriate for the English phrase. Sometimes it's used a bit humorously since ποτών is also the genitive of ποτό in plural.

That guy, Makis from work, must be pretty desperate, to go shopping on a Champions League day.

 

[drsiebenmal]

I think (but who can be sure about the origin of slang) that ποτέ των ποτών has nothing to do with drinks but is a fairly recent "refinement" of the actual ποτές των ποτών, which could be an ironic answer to those using the informal ποτές instead of the word ποτέ.

I can easily imagine somebody answering, upon hearing the use of ποτές, with ποτές των ποτών as if declining a substantive (like φωνές των φωνών or πηγές των πηγών etc).

 

[daeman]

Well, I can imagine myself inflecting (I wouldn't usually decline when it comes to drinks) a noun: οι πότες, των ποτών. :inno: