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Thanks for all this, ambrosia! It contains not only the literal meanings but also the figurative meaning of the verb ύπονομεύω δηλ. κρυφά και δόλια για να βλάψω κάποιον as it is used in Hamlet ‘to ‘hoist with his own petard’. 😀

BTW in pontios’s greyscale writing this dialogue occurs:- Καλημέρα όλη μέρα. Τι επίθεση αυτή χωρίς καν προειδοποίηση; Μοντιέ, πορκουά; [ πουρκουά?] - το σανβουαρ είναι σαν ένας συνδυασμός του "χωρις δεύτερη σκέψη" και του "ενστικτωδώς", σχεδόν λειτουργεί σαν ιμπρεσιονιστικά/at first glance -...

There is such a wealth of information here, which I shall work through diligently. I thank everybody for their contributions and cannot single out anyone for special praise, except cougr for his translations. I thought it was a simple question but nothing on lexilogia is simple! But if Theseus...

Sorry about the accent. Σάνβουαρ appears to be the best accentuation, m_a_a. I was careless. The phrase seems to be used as στάνταρ(τ) is in some ways in the sense of σιγούρα. The reference I gave at https://www.slang.gr/lemma/15148-sanbouar is worth looking at, although I found the examples...

You did indeed. Two ideal examples! I have since found an article in slang.gr at Σανβουάρ:- https://www.slang.gr/lemma/15148-sanbouar. But your examples are more straightforward. 🤗

Thanks, ambrosia! Presumably Greeks write sans voir in Greek letters, as σαν βουάρ. I have come cross the phrase in French as meaning ‘without seeing/failing to see’. The Greek usage that you mention is clearly an extension of the French. Can you give me a couple of example sentences in Greek...

With ‘winning’ as, for example, κερδισμένος από χέρι’ we could say ‘won hands down’ for an easy victory. I doubt if there is a precise Greek equivalent of.’hands down’i.e, in a phrase using the Greek χέρι. But I know αναμφίβολα and am aware of αδιαμφισβήτητα and ασυζητητί but would probably have...

Χιλια ευχαριστώ, κουγρ! A Greek change from the countless English ways in which I have tried to thank you. So the meaning is similar to the English idiom, which means ‘completely without thinking about or discussing it’: I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand means ‘completely’. Also ‘to refuse...

«Δεν χρειαζόμαστε βόμβες και σφαίρες – θα σας νικήσουμε μέ τις μήτρες τών γυναικών μας!» This sentence attributed to Colonel Gaddafi is discussed in an article at Elevthraki.gr. «ΘΑ ΣΑΣ ΝΙΚΗΣΟΥΜΕ ΜΕ ΤΙΣ ΜΗΤΡΕΣ ΤΩΝ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΩΝ ΜΑΣ» 22 October 2019. In the second paragraph of the article these word...

Thanks, as usual, Δόυκα 🫅. Thanks too to cougr! Many conversations like these I now encounter regularly in Greek and it is so useful to memorise the different ways of saying them. Thanks also for the link, Duke!

How best would this go into idiomatic spoken Greek? The best I can do, using different dictionaries, including lexilogia, and bearing in mind the linguistic register of this type of phrase (I don’t know the best colloquial expression for ‘to chat up’). Τους έχει όλους στην τσίτα/Τους έχει όλους...

Many thanks for the information, SBE, which has sparked off many ideas in my mind about the learning of Greek!🤗 EASY GREEK’S dialogues on sundry topics with all sorts of people in all places in Greece are truly excellent. Many are at fast conversational speed according to context and mood...

Idiot that I am for ignoring the gender of υπόνομος! Thank you so much for this scholarly note and all the information that it contains. Very many thanks, ‘Man!🤗

Thanks, ‘Man! Sorry about the delayed reply. I have been analysing the translation by Jacobus Polulas of Corfu and am finding it fascinating to compare the two texts:- There's letters seal'd, and my two schoolfellows, Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd— They bear the mandate, they must...

Excellent, cougr, and many thanks! 🙏

I have found a lexilogia thread here at https://www.lexilogia.gr/threads/to-shoot-oneself-in-the-foot.10511/:- to shoot oneself in the foot, which I asked back in January 27, 2012. There are some very good ideas there too. I still would like to see the Greek translation of Hamlet’s original...

The only translation into Greek I can find is πιάνομαι με την ίδια μου την παγίδα. This phrase from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is at first sight obscure but ‘a petard’ was a bomb, similar to the comic picture of the ball with a smouldering fuse. ‘Hoist’, I think, means ‘blown sky high’. It would be...

Thanks, SBE! The euphemism( ‘or something else’) is very amusing but Toto’s teacher didn’t appreciate any of his four sentences!

Thanks, as ever, cougr! I am able to start enjoying the novel and I shall look for a glossary of the Greek of Skiathos.😊

Thanks both for all your efforts on my behalf; they are greatly appreciated: so putting it all together it reads now: ‘‘A great disaster has befallen me to merit compassion. A tough, unfortunate, misery…κτλ” On November 4th 2016 I was given this book as a Christmas gift by a colleague on...