Archive for December, 2013
Traditional New Year Carols from Greece Posted by Ourania on Dec 31, 2013
Χρόνια πολλά! (Hronia polla, many greetings) Today is New Year Eve and children go from door to door singing carols (κάλαντα, kalanda), in order to wish people “Καλή Χρονιά” (Kali Hronia, Happy New Year) and to get a tip. This is a custom dating from the Byzantine years. The word κάλαντα (kalanda, carols) derives from…
New Year’s Day is always sweet: Greek vasilopita Posted by Ourania on Dec 23, 2013
Have you ever spent New Year’s Day in a Greek house? If you have, you are already familiar with vasilopita (βασιλόπιτα, vasilopita) a sweet pie that Greeks eat in New Year’s Day. Its basic ingredients are flour (αλεύρι,alevri) sugar (ζάχαρη, zahari) eggs (αβγά, avga) and milk (γάλα, gala). The number of the new year is…
As cold as ice: standard expressions and idioms Posted by Ourania on Dec 18, 2013
There are seven days until Christmas and in Athens the temperature is nine degrees Celcius., i.e. it’s freezing cold. The weather has been people’s favorite topic of conversation in the last days. There are many standard phrases about cold that most learners are familiar with: 1. Κάνει κρύο (kani krio)= it’s cold. 2. Κρυώνω (kriono)=…
Passive Voice in Modern Greek (Indicative Mood) Posted by Ourania on Dec 9, 2013
The Passive Voice is not as commonly used in Greek as it is in other languages. It is used when it is important to emphasize on the action done, or when it is unknown who or what is doing the action. Ο λογαριασμός πληρώνεται από τον ιδιοκτήτη. O logariasmos plironetai apo ton idioktiti. The bill…
Slang words for stingy or penniless in Greek Posted by Ourania on Dec 4, 2013
The Greeks enjoy having long conversations. Their favorite topics are politics, football, food and hobbies. For the last few years, a new topic has been added: money. Some of the new words that are introduced in our daily conversations are “bailout”, “public debt” and “debt restructuring”. Fortunately, this is not an economy blog, so…