Your Greek Word On A Sunday

Have you noticed how this year, the first word of every month has been a myth or myth related? Whether you have or not, thank you for listening and staying with me for another season. As this is the last episode before our summer break, I would be amiss not to mention amazing musician Laertes Malkotsis who composed our theme tune and Laurence Parsons who designed our logo. During the break, there might be a bolus episode or two so, keep your ears sharp and don't forget: you can find me on Instagram & Twitter @yourgreeksunday and you can email me with comments, questions or anything you like to discuss that you've heard on this podcast at [email protected]
Here we go! 

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This word first appears in writing in Homer's Epic, The Iliad and it meant 'a saying' , 'an opinion', 'an utterance'. Shortly after, Hesiod came along and used the word to detail the origins of human kind, its gods and heroes. And finally, Aristotle applied it to the plot of theatre plays and storytelling. The word came to English via Latin and around the 1800s was linked to fables and stories with heroic acts and supernatural elements ΜΥΘΟΣ/MYTH

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Sometimes, Greeks seem to have many words for the same thing but to their defence, they had many years of thinking, inventing and applying words to very specific things. So although we've already found the word for 'pebble' in a previous episode, today, we're using another one Κρόκη (Kroke); And combined with the word for 'Lizard' Δίλος (Delos) It gives us the word, the ancient Greeks used for the animal found in the river Nile. As language evolved, the spelling in modern Greek has changed and in English, it's directly from the Latin one ΚΡΟΚΟΔΕΙΛΟΣ/CROCODILE

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Most English words have arrived here either via Latin or Germanic ones. And because it was easier geographically, the ones that originated in Greece are the Latin based ones. But there are some exceptions and today we have one of them. A small pebble in ancient Greece was called Κάλυξ (Calix) and in Latin it was called 'Calx' . However, the word did not go to the French and then English as usual but it rerouted to Germany where they used it for 'limestone'. So, when the word came here and was called 'caelc' in old English, it meant 'the soft, white limestone' found on the South of England and cut in small pieces it was used to mark debt or game scores. The modern spelling of the work is from the 14th century mimicking the Latin one. ΚΑΛΥΞ/CHALK

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This word came to English in 1845 from the French that gave it the specific meaning we use today but: Ακρη (akri)  in both ancient and modern Greek, means 'the edge' of a place, regardless if it's a mountain or a sidewalk and Βαίνειν (venin) is the ancient Greek infinitive for 'walking/Going' so, the one who walks on the edge of any place not just a high one and not only a rope, is an ΑΚΡΟΒΑΤΗΣ/ACROBAT

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Before we begin, I have a little announcement ,the podcast has finally made it to Instagram. It has now its own separate account than my acting one and it has everything , including videos with additional information and fun facts. So, go ahead, give us a follow @yourgreeksunday and I'll see you there! 

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Today's word is also linked to Dionysus as it's supposed to be one of the states his followers found themselves in, but it has a history of its own. Εκ (ek) in ancient and modern Greek is a preposition and means 'from', Ιστημι (istimi) is an ancient greek verb and it means 'I stand/I am in place'. The combined word means 'being out of place' and for the ancient Greeks that also meant being out of touch with yourself and your sanity. In the 14th century , writers of mystical theories, used the word to describe a state where your body was still but your mind and soul contemplated divine issues and that's where it probably got the positive link to euphoria. The word came to English in the 14th century from France through religious texts. ΕΚΣΤΑΣΗ/ECSTASY

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Until I started this podcast, I didn't realise how many English speaking people named things by combining Greek words; either because they thought it would make them look smarter or because the words they chose, were the perfect description for their invention (and sounded smart).In 1787 the painter and inventor Robert Barker, created a 360 degree visual medium, patented under the title 'Apparatus for exhibiting Pictures'. The viewer would stand on a platform in the middle of it and would be surrounded by pictures. In 1789 he also invented its name by putting two Greek words together to describe it. Παν (pan) means 'everything' or 'the whole' and Οραμα (orama) means 'vision' or 'the thing to see' ΠΑΝΟΡΑΜΑ/PANORAMA

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This is an English word based on an ancient Greek one that quickly changed meanings, started going on circles creating more words and making it-I'll be kind- fun to research. Κλήρος (Kleros) in ancient Greek meant 'Lot', 'piece of land' and subsequently 'inheritance', so far so good. A few hundred years go by and in the 5th book of the bible, people working as temple assistants were called Κληρικοί (Kleriki) because, and I quote  '...therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance'. But that  name 'kliriki' expanded outside the church and was given to anyone who would read and write and was working in public offices or keeping accounts for businesses . With every language it went through the word came closer to today's meaning. 'Clericus'/ A priest in Latin, 'clerc'/a scribe in old French and in 1200 in old English and today, although the Greeks have kept the Christian meaning of the word, ΚΛΗΡΙΚΟΣ/CLERK

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The internet reads for this creature; a duck billed, beaver tailed, otter footed, egg laying, aquatic creature native to Australia. Then, what is it doing bearing a Greek name? Before the Natural History Museum in London became the great institution it is today, it was part of the British Museum and its keeper, George Shaw, was the first to describe and accept this creature as a real animal, in 1799. He named it based on the look of its feet but that name was already taken by a beetle, so, in 1803 Johann Friedrich, Blumenbach, publish another description and named it 'Ornithorinchus Paradoxus' ,which is also Greek and means 'Paradoxical bird-snout. I think we'd all agree that, that's too long to remember let alone ,say. And that's why we call it what George Shaw named it. Πλατύς (platys) in ancient and modern Greek means 'wide' and πούς (pous), in ancient Greek, means 'foot. ΠΛΑΤΥΠΟΥΣ/PLATYPUS

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From Greek Mythology to Euripides's Greek Drama 'The Bacchae' to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' , those Nymphs were responsible for drinking, dancing, eating raw meat, being strong enough to pull trees from the ground with, just, their hands and killing anyone who'd refuse their mating call. They followed and worshiped Dionysus from Greece to India and back and they were in the hundreds! Their name Μαινάδες (Maenads) means 'obsessively passionate to the point of rage' and comes from the infinitive Μένεσθαι (menesthe). Their frantic state is a word that from Greek to Latin to French to English late in the 14th century, has stayed the same. ΜΑΝΙΑ/MANIA

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Twitter @yourgreeksunday ,
Instagram @yourgreeksunday ,
email [email protected]