Greek to me

Last updated

That's Greek to me or it's (all) Greek to me is an idiom in English referring to material that the speaker finds difficult or impossible to understand. It is commonly used in reference to a complex or imprecise verbal or written expression, that may use unfamiliar jargon, dialect, or symbols. The metaphor refers to the Greek language, which is unfamiliar to most English speakers, and additionally uses a largely dissimilar alphabet.

Contents

Origins

It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in Latin : Graecum est, non legitur ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read"). [1] The phrase is widely believed to have its origins among medieval scribes. While most scribes were familiar with Latin, few people in medieval Western Europe, even among the intellectual classes, were schooled in Greek. When copying classic manuscripts they would frequently encounter passages and quotations in Greek which they would have no way of translating, and as such would note the phrase in the margins.[ citation needed ]

Recorded usage of the metaphor in English traces back to the early modern period. It appears in 1599 in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar , as spoken by Servilius Casca to Cassius after a festival in which Caesar was offered a crown:

CASSIUS: Did Cicero say any thing?

CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.

CASSIUS: To what effect?

CASCA: Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it.

Here, Casca's literal ignorance of Greek is the source of the phrase, using its common meaning to play on the uncertainty among the conspirators about Cicero's attitude to Caesar's increasingly regal behaviour.

Shakespeare was not the only author of this period to use the expression. It was also used in 1603 by Thomas Dekker in his play Patient Grissel :

FAR: Asking for a Greek poet, to him he fails. I'll be sworn he knows not so much as one character of the tongue.
RIC: Why, then it's Greek to him.

The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"); Dekker's "Greek to him" is rare.

Variations

Other languages have similar formulations, some referring to Greek but many referring to foreign languages such as Chinese or Spanish. Many refer to a language with different alphabet or writing system.

This is an example of the usage of demonyms in relation to the ability of a people to be understood, comparable to the development of the words barbarian (one who babbles), Nemec (Slavic for "the mute one," indicating Germans).

In an article published by Arnold L. Rosenberg in the language journal Lingvisticæ Investigationes , he claimed that there was a popular "consensus" that Chinese was the "hardest" language, since various non-English languages most frequently used the Chinese language in their equivalent expression to the English idiom "it's all Greek to me". [2] David Moser of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies reached a similar conclusion. [3] i

LanguagePhrase Pronunciation TranslationTarget language / meaning
English It's Double Dutch.Double Dutch (Tutnese)
That's Greek to me. Greek
Chicken scratch.illegible writing
Albanian Mos fol kinezce.Do not speak Chinese. Chinese
Afrikaans Dis Grieks vir my.It's Greek to me.Greek
Ancient Greek Αὐτὸ ἐστὶ σηρικὸν περὶ ἐμοί.[au̯ˌto esˌti sɛːriˌkon peˌri eˈmoi̯]It's Chinese to me.Chinese
Arabic يتحدث باللغة الصينيةyataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah aṣ-Ṣīnīyah
[jataˈħadːaθbɪlˈluɣaasˤːiːˈniːja]
He's speaking Chinese.Chinese
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Syrian Colloquial يحكي كرشونيyaḥki Karšūni
[ˈjaħkikarˈʃuːni]
He's speaking Syriac. Syriac, using the Garshuni (Arabic) script as a reference to it.
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Egyptian Colloquial بيتكلم بالهنديbyatkallam bel-hendi
[bjætˈkælːæmbelˈhendi]
He's speaking Hindi. Hindi
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Asturian Suename chinu
Ta'n chinu.
It sounds like Chinese to me.
It's in Chinese.
Chinese
Bulgarian Все едно ми говориш на патагонски.Vse edno mi govoriš na patagonski.
[fsɛɛdˈnɔmiɡɔˈvɔriʃnapataˈɡɔnskʲi]
It's as if you're talking in Patagonian."Patagonian" (not a real language)
Cantonese 鬼畫符 / 鬼画符gwai2 waak6 fu4
[liː˥kɔ˧hɐi˨mɐi˨kwɐi˧˥waːk̚˨fuː˨˩aː˧]
Ghost script?No specific set phrase, treated like any ordinary language, eg. "Is this ghost script?" "Is this written in Martian?"
火星話 / 火星话fo2 sing1 waa6
[fɔ˥sɪŋ˨waː˧]
Martian
Catalan Com si diguessis Llúcia [komsidi'ɣes:is'ʎusiə] As if you say Lucy; not referring to a language
Cebuano LinatinLatin Latin, a language used in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners.
IninsikChineseChinese
Chavacano Aleman ese comigo.It's German to me. German
Croatian To su za mene španska sela. [suzaměneʃpǎːnskasêla] These are to me the Spanish countryside.Spanish
Czech To je pro mě španělská vesnice. [ˈtoˈpromɲɛˈʃpaɲɛlskaːˈvɛsɲɪtsɛ] This is a Spanish village to me.Spanish
Danish Det rene volapyk. [te̝ˈʁeˀnəvolɑˈpʰyk] This is pure Volapük Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Det er en by i Rusland.This is a town in Russia. Russian
Kaudervælsk Romansh Romansh, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in Switzerland
Dutch Dat is Chinees voor mij. [dɑtɪsʃiˈneːsfoːrmɛi] [4] That is Chinese to me.Chinese
Ik snap er geen jota van.I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18. [5] Greek
Esperanto Tio estas volapukaĵo.[ˈtioˈestasvolapuˈkaʒo]It's all Volapük. Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Estonian See on mulle hiina keel.This is Chinese to me.Chinese
Filipino Parang IntsikIt looks like Chinese.Chinese
Finnish Täyttä hepreaa. [ˈtæy̯tːæˈhepreɑː] It's all Hebrew. Hebrew
Kuulostaa siansaksalta Sounds like pig's Germangibberish
harakanvarpaita (refers to undecipherable writing)Magpie's toesunintelligible writing (gibberish)
French C'est du chinois.
C'est de l'hébreu.
C'est du russe.
[s‿ɛ dy ʃinwa]
[s‿ɛ də l‿ebʁø]
[s‿ɛ dy ʁys]
It's Chinese.
It's Hebrew.
It's Russian.
Chinese
Hebrew
Russian
German Das kommt mir spanisch vor.That sounds like Spanish to me. (usually meant to indicate something is fishy)Spanish
Spreche ich Chinesisch?Am I speaking Chinese?Chinese
Fachchinesischspecialty Chinese (meaning technical jargon)Chinese
Kauderwelschtrade Romance Mediterranean Lingua Franca
Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich [ˌbøːmɪʃəˈdœʁfɐ] These are Bohemian villages to me Czech, Bohemia being a region of the neighbouring Czech Republic that is nearest to Germany.
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof All I understand is "train station."
Polnisch rückwärtsPolish [spoken] in reversePolish
Greek, Standard Modern Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα. [afˈtamuˈfenɔːndeciˈnezika] This strikes me as ChineseChinese
Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα. [afˈtamuˈfeno(n)deala(m)burˈnezika] These seem to me gobbledygook."Alaburnese" (similar to gibberish)
Greek, Cypriot Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς;[e‿ˈⁿduɾ̥t͡ʃi̞kɐp̬umi↗ˈlɐs]Are you speaking Turkish?Turkish
Hebrew זה סינית בשבילי [zesinitbiʃvili] It's Chinese to me!Chinese
כתב חרטומים [ktavħartˤumim] The script of a pharaoh's magicians (i.e. hieroglyphics)Hieroglyphics
Hindi,

Urdu

क्या मैं फ़ारसी बोल रहा हूँ?

کیا میں فارسی بول رہا ہوں؟

Kyā maĩ fārsī bol rahā hū̃?Am I speaking Persian? Persian
Hungarian Ez nekem kínai. [ˈɛzˈnɛkɛmˈkiːnɒi] It's Chinese to me.Chinese
Icelandic Þetta kemur mér spánskt fyrir sjónir.This looks like Spanish to me.Spanish
Indonesian (Tulisan) Cakar ayamChicken feetgibberish
Refers to unreadable writing.
Bahasa planet(Other-)planet languagealien language
Italian Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto/turco/cinese [ˈkwestoperˈmeˌɛˈaːrabo] , [araˈmaiko] , [ostroˈɡɔːto] , [ˈtu:rko] , [tʃiˈne:ze] This is Arabic/Aramaic/Ostrogoth/Turkish/Chinese to me Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth, Turkish, Chinese
Japanese 珍紛漢紛Chinpun kanpun
[ˈtɕimpɯŋkamˌpɯɴ]
"Ching chong"formal speech
Refers to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible Chinese loanwords.
Javanese ꦕꦺꦏꦺꦂꦥꦶꦛꦶꦏ꧀ [t͡ʃɛkɛrpiʈɪˀ] Chicken scratchillegible handwriting
ꦧꦱꦮꦭꦺꦴꦟ꧀ꦝ [bʰɔsɔwalɔɳɖɔ] Dutch languageDutch
Korean 횡설수설하고 있다Hoengseolsuseolhago ittaThey are speaking horizontally and vertically.gibberish, especially for unrecognizable spoken language or incoherence.
괴발개발
(refers to unreadable writing)
GoebalgaebalCat's footprints and dog's footprintsgibberish
아무 말이나 한다Amu marina handaThey are speaking out random words.gibberish
외계어를 한다Oegyeeoreul handaThey are speaking in an alien language.alien language
개소리를 한다Gaesorireul handaThey are making a dog's sound.gibberish
Latin Graecum est; nōn legitur [ˈɡrae̯kumestnoːnˈleɡitur] [It] is Greek; [it is] not legible/[it is] illegibleGreek
Latvian Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece [taːmanirciːnieʃuaːbetse] This is Chinese alphabet book to meChinese
Lithuanian Tai man kaip kinų kalba. [taɪmɐnkaɪpkinuˑkɐlba] It's Chinese to meChinese
Lojban ti itku'ile ga'a mi [6] [7] It's Ithkuil to me Ithkuil
Macedonian За мене тоа е шпанско село.Za mene toa e špansko selo.
[zamɛnɛtɔaɛʃpaŋskɔsɛlɔ]
It is for me a Spanish village.Spanish
Malay (Tulisan) Cakar ayamChicken feetgibberish
Refers to unreadable writing.
Mandarin 看起來像天書。/ 看起来像天书。Kànqǐlái xiàng tiān shū
[kʰan˥˩tɕʰi˨˩lai̯˧˥ɕjɑŋ˥˩tʰjɛn˥ʂu˥]
Looks like a book from Heaven"Heaven's language"
Refers to an unknown writing system, or god's language, c.f. A Book from the Sky .
這是鬼畫符嗎? / 这是鬼画符吗?Zhè shì guǐhuàfú ma?
[ʈʂɤ˥˩ʂɻ̩˥˩kwei˨˩hwa˥˩fu˧˥ma˧]
Are these ghost-drawn marks?"ghost language"
Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
聽起來像鳥語。/ 听起来像鸟语。Tīngqǐlái xiàng niǎoyǔ.
[tʰiŋ˥tɕʰi˨˩lai̯˧˥ɕjɑŋ˥˩njɑʊ̯˧˥y˨˩]
Sounds like bird language.
"bird language" (bird song)
Refers to incomprehensible speech.
火星文Huǒxīng wén
[xwɔ˨˩ɕiŋ˥wən˧˥]
Martian writing"Martian"
Usually refers to comically unconventional writing, but is also often used in the same context of unintelligible words or text.
Low Saxon Dat kümmt mi spaansch vör.[datkymtmiːspoːnʃføɐ]That seems like Spanish to me.Spanish
Norwegian Det er helt gresk for meg.It's complete Greek to meGreek
Persian مگه ترکی حرف میزنم؟ [mægetorkiːhærfmiːzænæm] Am I speaking Turkish? Turkish
Polish To dla mnie chińszczyzna. [ˈtɔdlaˈmɲɛxʲij̃ˈʂtʂɨzna] To me it's ChineseChinese
Siedzieć jak na tureckim kazaniu [ˈɕɛdʑɛtɕˈjaknatuˈrɛtskʲimkaˈzaɲu] Sit as in a Turkish sermonTurkish
Czeski film [ˈtʂɛskʲiˈfilm] Czech movie (this one refers to an incomprehensible situation rather than words, coined after a wave of absurdist movies in Czech cinematography)Czech
Portuguese Isto para mim é chinês. [ˈiʃtupɐɾɐˈmĩɛʃiˈneʃ] This is Chinese to meChinese (Portugal)
Isto para mim é grego. [ˈiʃtupɐɾɐˈmĩɛˈɣɾeɣu] This is Greek to meGreek (Portugal)
Proto-Germanic *Þat isti Walhiskǭ/Winidiskǭ furi mek.[θɑt ˈis.ti ˈwɑlxis.kɔ̃ː/ˈwiniðiskɔ̃ː ˈɸuri mek]It's Proto-Italic/Proto-Slavic for me.Proto-Italic, Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic *To estь Němьčьskъjь/Volšьskъjь děľa mę.[tɔ ɛstɪ nɛːmɪt͡ʃɪskʊjɪ/ʋɔlʃɪskʊjɪ dɛːʎɑː mɛ̃ː]It's Proto-Germanic/Proto-Italic for me.Proto-Germanic, Proto-Italic
Romanian Parcă e chineză.
[ˈparkəjekiˈnezə] It's like Chinese.Chinese
Ești turc? [jeʃtʲˈtuɾk] Are you Turkish? Turkish
Nu înțeleg o iotă.[nu ɨnˈt͡se.leɡ o jo.tə]I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.Greek
Russian Это для меня китайская грамота.Eto dlja menjá kitájskaja grámota.
[ˈɛtəˈdʲlʲæmʲɪˈnʲækʲɪˈtajskəjəˈɡramətə]
That's Chinese writing to me.Chinese, but emphasis is put on reading rather than speaking. The phrase is often applied when not understanding branches of knowledge like chemistry, maths or computing due to lack of familiarity.
Как курица лапой.Like [scribbled by] chicken feet.gibberish
Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
Serbian То су за мене шпанска села.
To su za mene španska sela.
[tosuzameneʃpanskasela] These are to me a Spanish village.Spanish
К'о да кинески причаш.
K'o da kineski pričaš.
Like speaking in ChineseChinese
Slovak To je pre mňa španielska dedina. [tojepremɲaʃpaɲielskaɟeɟina] That is a Spanish village to me.Spanish
Slovene To mi je španska vas [ˈtóːmiˈʃpáːnskaˈʋáːs] That is a Spanish village to me. Spanish
Spanish Está en chino/arameo/ruso.
Me suena a chino/arameo/ruso.
[esˈtaenˈtʃino] , [aɾaˈmeo]
[meˈswenaaˈtʃino] , [aɾaˈmeo]
This is in Chinese/Aramaic/Russian.
It sounds like Chinese/Aramaic/Russian to me.
Chinese, Aramaic, Russian
No entiendo ni jota [noenˈtjendoniˈxota] I don't understand one iota of it.
Reference to Matthew 5:18. [8]
Greek
Swedish Det är rena grekiskan. [ˈdeːæˈrěːnaˈɡrěːkɪskan] It's pure GreekGreek
Turkish Konuya Fransız kaldım. [9] [konujafɾansɯzkaɫˈdɯm] I am French to the topic. French, as from the viewpoint of a French person who doesn't understand any Turkish.
Anladıysam Arap olayım. [10] [anɫaˈdɯjsamaˈɾapoɫajɯm] let me blacken, get dark skin ("turn into Arab") if I understood it
(in Turkish "Arap olayım" is used in idioms in similar sense to "God strike me down if ...", to emphasize that something is not true) [11]
(informal, old-fashioned, offensive) [12]
None (Arab doesn't refer to nationality or language, but skin color)
Ukrainian Це для мене китайська грамота.Tse dlja mene kitajs'ka gramota.
[ˈtsɛdʲlʲɐˈmɛnekɪˈtɑjsʲkɐˈɦrɑmotɐ]
That's Chinese writing to me.Chinese
Venetian Par mi xe turco. [paɾˈmiˌzɛˈtuɾko] To me this is Turkish.Turkish
Vietnamese Nhìn/nghe như tiếng Miên.(It) looks/sounds like Khmer Khmer
Yiddish תּרגום־לשון
טערקיש
אָץ־קוצץ־לשון
מלאָכים־לשון
חרטמים־לשון
targem-loshn
terkish
ots-koytsets-loshn
malokhim-loshn
khartumim-loshn
targum language (i.e. that of Aramaic translations of the Bible)
Turkish
gibberish
the language of angels
the language of a pharaoh's magicians (i.e. hieroglyphics)
Aramaic / Turkish / gibberish / angelic language / Hieroglyphics

See also

Related Research Articles

In linguistics, a copula is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word is in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase was not being in the sentence "It was not being co-operative." The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a "link" or "tie" that connects two different things.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction. As a rhetorical device, an oxymoron illustrates a point to communicate and reveal a paradox. A general meaning of "contradiction in terms" is recorded by the 1902 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puck (folklore)</span> Fairy from English folklore

In English folklore, The Puck, also known as Goodfellows, are demons or fairies which can be domestic sprites or nature sprites.

<i>Julius Caesar</i> (play) Play by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar), often abbreviated as Julius Caesar, is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Cassius Longinus</span> Roman senator and general (c.86 BC–42 BC)

Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspiracy. He commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's former supporters, and committed suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony.

Literal and figurative language is a distinction within some fields of language analysis, in particular stylistics, rhetoric, and semantics.

In language, an archaism is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. Lexical archaisms are single archaic words or expressions used regularly in an affair or freely; literary archaism is the survival of archaic language in a traditional literary text such as a nursery rhyme or the deliberate use of a style characteristic of an earlier age—for example, in his 1960 novel The Sot-Weed Factor, John Barth writes in an 18th-century style. Archaic words or expressions may have distinctive emotional connotations—some can be humorous (forsooth), some highly formal, and some solemn. The word archaism is from the Ancient Greek: ἀρχαϊκός, archaïkós, 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately ἀρχαῖος, archaîos, 'from the beginning, ancient'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Dekker (writer)</span> English dramatist and pamphleteer (c. 1572–1632)

Thomas Dekker was an English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer, a versatile and prolific writer, whose career spanned several decades and brought him into contact with many of the period's most famous dramatists.

Deep structure and surface structure are concepts used in linguistics, specifically in the study of syntax in the Chomskyan tradition of transformational generative grammar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publius Servilius Casca</span> Roman senator and assassin of Julius Caesar

Publius Servilius Casca Longus was one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. He and several other senators conspired to kill him, a plan which they carried out on 15 March 44 BC. Afterward, Casca fought with the liberators during the Liberators' civil war. He is believed to have died at the Battle of Phillipi either by suicide or by Octavian's forces.

<i>De mortuis nil nisi bonum</i> Latin phrase

The Latin phrase Demortuisnilnisibonumdicendumest, "Of the dead nothing but good is to be said." — abbreviated Nil nisi bonum — is a mortuary aphorism indicating that it is socially inappropriate for the living to speak ill of the dead who cannot defend or justify themselves.

<i>Et tu, Brute?</i> Latin phrase made famous by Shakespeares Julius Caesar

Et tu, Brute? is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?". The quote appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, where it is spoken by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, at the moment of his assassination, to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus, upon recognizing him as one of the assassins. The first known occurrences of the phrase are said to be in two earlier Elizabethan plays; Henry VI, Part 3 by Shakespeare, and an even earlier play, Caesar Interfectus, by Richard Edes. The phrase is often used apart from the plays to signify an unexpected betrayal by a friend.

<i>William Shakespeares Julius Caesar</i> 1953 Shakespearean film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Julius Caesar is a 1953 American film adaptation of the Shakespearean play, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by John Houseman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It stars Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, James Mason as Brutus, Louis Calhern as Caesar, John Gielgud as Cassius, Edmond O'Brien as Casca, Greer Garson as Calpurnia, and Deborah Kerr as Portia.

"Hold your horses", sometimes said as "Hold the horses", is an English-language idiom meaning "wait, slow down". The phrase is historically related to horse riding or travelling by horse, or driving a horse-drawn vehicle. A number of explanations, all unverified, have been offered for the origins of the phrase, dating back to usage in Ancient Greece.

<i>Julius Caesar</i> (1970 film) 1970 Shakespearean film by Stuart Burge

Julius Caesar is a 1970 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, directed by Stuart Burge. It stars Charlton Heston as Mark Antony, Jason Robards as Brutus, Richard Johnson as Cassius, John Gielgud as Caesar, Robert Vaughn as Casca, Richard Chamberlain as Octavius, and Diana Rigg as Portia. It was an independent production of Commonwealth United Entertainment, filmed in England and Spain. It is the first film version of the play made in colour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Julius Caesar</span> 44 BCE murder of the Roman dictator

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators on the Ides of March of 44 BC during a meeting of the Senate at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey in Rome where the senators stabbed Caesar 23 times. They claimed to be acting over fears that Caesar's unprecedented concentration of power during his dictatorship was undermining the Roman Republic. At least 60 to 70 senators were party to the conspiracy, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. Despite the death of Caesar, the conspirators were unable to restore the institutions of the Republic. The ramifications of the assassination led to his martyrdom, the Liberators' civil war and ultimately to the Principate period of the Roman Empire.

Marcus Favonius was a Roman politician during the period of the fall of the Roman Republic. He is noted for his imitation of Cato the Younger, his espousal of the Cynic philosophy, and for his appearance as the Poet in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.

"What's done is done" is an idiom in English, usually meaning something along the line of: the consequence of a situation is now out of your control, that is, "there's no changing the past, so learn from it and move on."

Latin syntax is the part of Latin grammar that covers such matters as word order, the use of cases, tenses and moods, and the construction of simple and compound sentences, also known as periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last words of Julius Caesar</span>

The last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar are disputed. Ancient chroniclers reported a variety of phrases and post-classical writers have elaborated on the phrases and their interpretation. The two most common theories – prevalent as early as the second century AD – are that he said nothing or that he said, in Greek, καὶ σύ, τέκνον.

References

  1. "Etymology of Gringo". 17 April 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2021. The same phrase ["It was Greek to me"] was also used (at about the same time) by another Elizabethan playwright, Thomas Dekker, but its origins are much older: it comes from the Medieval Latin proverb Graecum est; non potest legi (i.e., "It is Greek; it cannot be read").
  2. Rosenberg, Arnold L. (January 1979). "The Hardest Natural Languages". Lingvisticæ Investigationes. 3 (2): 323–339. doi:10.1075/li.3.2.07ros. ISSN   0378-4169.
  3. Moser, D. Pīnyīn.Info. Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard. Retrieved Jun 4, 2011, http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. In isolation, voor is pronounced [voːr] .
  5. "Ergens geen jota van snappen". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  6. Glosbe at the word itku'ile
  7. Note also a related occurrence: Rachel Gardener's “lo nabmi” (“The problem”) song at 00:27: “.i .ia nadme'a fa la .itku'ile .'enai” (“I think Ithkuil would be easier than this”).
  8. Morcillo, José Juan. "Biblismos". La Tribuna de Albacete.
  9. "Güncel Türkçe Sözlük'te Söz Arama" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  10. "Hürriyet Arama". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  11. "Güncel Türkçe Sözlük'te Söz Arama" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  12. ""Anladıysam Arap olayım" sözü rafa mı kalkıyor?" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-23.