Μαρτσαλαμ τα βζα.

[Theseus]

I have come across this interjection twice and haven’t the slightest idea what it means. When I followed it up, confusion was worse confounded! The second time was on facebook and clearly was in a different dialect of Greek (Aeolic?!). Here is the context, a bucolic drama:-
Θεμα:....SOS-----βουκολικο δραμα....
Τσκςςς.....τσκςςς!!!
Μι λεν Σουλα...
Κανουνικα μι βαφτισαν Αθανασια..αλλα του αλλαξα..
γιατ' ιδω στου χουριο..μι φωναζαν Θανασω...
Ε δεν ειν' κι "τρεντ'"..να εισι νια κοπελλα ..και να σι λεει ου αλλος ετσ'..
Εχου σχεσ' μι ενα πιδι...ιδω κι ενα χρονου...
Ι Νωντας...(ετσ του λιεν του παλλουκαρ..) μι λεει οτι μ'αγαπαει..
κι οτι θα μι καν' γυναικ'τ....
Στου σεξ διν εχου παραπ'ν......ι Νωντας εινι μεγαλου βαρβατσελ'....
Μεχρ' προυψες...που μαρκαλθωκαμι κατ' απ'το φιγγαρ'...
Ινω ιμιν ετοιμ'...(ειχα μια φουρτακα!)...κι τ'ελεγα:
"Νωντα μ'...πλι μ'....μαρτσαλαμ' τα βζα..κανι μι δκη'ς"...
Ι Νωντας μουγκαβος!!!!..

Th drift of the piece makes some sense, but not this phrase. Any ideas?

By the way, I am in the process of doing a Greek conversational course and it is a real βάπτισμα πυρός.!

 

[cougr]

The phrase is ματσάλαμ' τα βζά and it's a dialectal expression (quite possibly from Larissa and surrounding regions) with sexual connotations. It basically means "suck (or lick) my breasts".

 

[cougr]

(quite possibly from Larissa and surrounding regions)

This is a common assumption but according to some it's debatable. Eg:

Όσο για τις λέξεις και εκφράσεις που είμαι σχεδόν σίγουρη ότι δεν υπάρχουν καν, αλλά αντιθέτως είναι γεννήματα μη Θεσσαλών ομιλητών, παραθέτω ενδεικτικά: «Γλείψε μου το στήθος = Ματσάλαμ’ τα βζά», «Το κλαμπ έχει ουρά για να μπεις = Βαράει στρούγκα», «Μωρό μου = Ζγούρι μου (εκ του ζυγούρι = προβατίνα)». Οι φράσεις αυτές είναι προϊόν της αντίληψης ότι οι Λαρισαί@ είναι χωριάτες, φτιάχνουν ολημερίς τυριά, κάθε σπίτι έχει ένα μαντρί κτλ.

Η πρώτη φράση από αυτές που κατέγραψα μάλιστα νομίζω ότι προέρχεται από ένα ανέκδοτο, τύπου «Πως λένε οι Λαρισαίοι το…».

https://ilovelinguistics.wordpress.com/category/γλωσσικες-ποικιλιες/

 

[daeman]

Literally: chew my breasts (in Thessaly and beyond, in fact all over Central and Northern Greece where the northern idiom prevails).
E.g. in Thrace:

In this context, it would probably mean squeeze and knead, or what cougr has "censored" above (by hand or mouth, as it were).

 

[daeman]

This is a common assumption but according to some it's debatable. Eg:
Η πρώτη φράση από αυτές που κατέγραψα μάλιστα νομίζω ότι προέρχεται από ένα ανέκδοτο, τύπου «Πως λένε οι Λαρισαίοι το…».

https://ilovelinguistics.wordpress.com/category/γλωσσικες-ποικιλιες/[/

http://URL]

Well, I would definitely not heed a 29 year old's opinion on dialectic expressions, since many of them probably had died out before she was born.
That's not to say that the Athens Voice article she's commenting on is the real thing, of course, because she's certainly right on one thing: big city people often don't have a clue how people in the country live, talk and fare, so they have a more or less folklore-like and actually disparaging image of them.

 

[Theseus]

A big thank you for all of this to cougr and ‘Man.
I apologise for the content, the meaning of which I was totally ignorant. As regards ‘Man’s contribution, this ignorant, disparaging and patronising attitude to country people and their rustic accent is widespread among uncivilised city dwellers in England as well. The image of the stupid farmer with straw in his ears is still prevalent among ‘townies’, On an Easy Greek video about Crete the interviewee who thought that all Cretans carried guns and shot their goats if they were badly behaved (which amused the Athenian interviewer) typifies the town boorish idiot whose mind turns off when his playstation does.

 

[cougr]

I forgot to mention that it's a dialectal variant of μασουλάω.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks, cougr!

 

[SBE]

I was a bit confused by the ρ and I would not have thought it was a variant of μασουλάω which btw brings up caniballistic imagery. I don't know where you find all these examples, Theseus, let's just say that they find you, but with local pronunciation and vocabulary I just read it out loud because hearing it I understand more than seeing it written down, especially since the spelling is not always consistent.
As for the above sentences από τα θρακιώτικα:
Σταμάτα, μωρή, να μασουλάς τη μαστίχα έτσι. Μας κούφανες, σιχαμένη.
Σκυλί πήγες και μαγείρεψες; Τρία τέταρτα μασουλάω, μουδιασε το σαγόνι μου (τουρκικα çene= σαγόνι)

 

[Theseus]

Thank you, SBE! To read them aloud is very good tip! As I said, I’m currently doing an intensive course in Greek, which is making me almost obsessive since there is so much material to read and hear in preparation. At present (week 4 out of 12), it is electrical goods and changing faulty ones in shops, not exactly inspiring but necessary! In the evenings I browse songs, stories and miscellanea. I came across this on Facebook, where I saw some Greek, which I got the gist of but this odd ‘exclamation/ interjection’ appeared. This led to my question on lexilogia.