# μπούζι



## seitt

Greetings

I'm interested in the word μπούζι - I understand that it literally means ‘ice’, but could you please give some Colloquial Greek sentences showing how it is actually used?

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


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## Perseas

At first I thought you meant «μπουζ*ί*» , but then I looked up in Babiniotis' dictionary and I found it means «πολύ κρύο» ("very cold"). It has the sentence «το νερό είναι μπούζι». It's a word I' ve never used or heard before.

Here is what Triandaphyllidis' dictionary has:
*μπούζι* [búzi] Ε (άκλ.) *:* (οικ.) που είναι πολύ κρύος: _Tο νερό είναι_ ~. _Tα πόδια μου είναι_ ~ _από την παγωνιά. Είναι κάτι κρύο_ ~_,_ είναι πολύ κρύο.  [τουρκ. buz _-ι_]


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## shawnee

I have used and heard this Turkish loan word in use many times. It is often used in the case where a food is served somewhat cooler than expected.


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## apmoy70

shawnee said:


> I have used and heard this Turkish loan word in use many times. It is often used in the case where a food is served somewhat cooler than expected.


My late grand-mother (b. 1906) used «μπούζι» alot (she was from rural Thessaly), but haven't heard it since my childhood, the word has died out


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## shawnee

apmoy70 said:


> My late grand-mother (b. 1906) used «μπούζι» alot (she was from rural Thessaly), but haven't heard it since my childhood, the word has died out


Yes, that may be the case in standard Greek. I certainly curtail my dialect when visiting Athens. However, I would not pronounce it compltetely dead. Let me pose a theory. In Asia minor and adjacent precincts this may well have been the alternative word for κρύο - whereas in western Greece (the Ionian islands to be precise) the word was an exotic addition. It remains alive for those of us over sixty where a certain emphasis is called for, as in a nickname.


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## jadeite_85

shawnee said:


> Yes, that may be the case in standard Greek. I certainly curtail my dialect when visiting Athens. However, I would not pronounce it compltetely dead. Let me pose a theory. In Asia minor and adjacent precincts this may well have been the alternative word for κρύο - whereas in western Greece (the Ionian islands to be precise) the word was an exotic addition. It remains alive for those of us over sixty where a certain emphasis is called for, as in a nickname.



I asked about this word a couple of days ago a 30 years old Greek from Athens and he said this word is still in use when you want to put a strong emphasis on the coldness - for example when the water of the shower is very cold.
I used this word this summer when I returned from Turkey asking for ice in a bar (thinking *μπούζι *means "ice" as in Turkish) and the waitress (she was young) corrected me smiling (but she wanted to be helpful not mean and said I should always say *με πάγο*).
So the word is understood but somehow funny for younger persons?


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## shawnee

jadeite_85 said:


> I asked about this word a couple of days ago a 30 years old Greek from Athens and he said this word is still in use when you want to put a strong emphasis on the coldness - for example when the water of the shower is very cold.
> I used this word this summer when I returned from Turkey asking for ice in a bar (thinking *μπούζι *means "ice" as in Turkish) and the waitress (she was young) corrected me smiling (but she wanted to be helpful not mean and said I should always say *με πάγο*).
> So the word is understood but somehow funny for younger persons?


Thanks for that example Jadeite. The idea of opting for a loan word for emphasis is most interesting and of course not that uncommon. I suspect that in the Greek/Turkish context most discussion will be clouded by layers of history and politics.


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## Perseas

jadeite_85 said:


> I used this word this summer when I returned from Turkey asking for ice in a bar (thinking *μπούζι *means "ice" as in Turkish) and the waitress (she was young) corrected me smiling (but she wanted to be helpful not mean and said I should always say *με πάγο*).
> So the word is understood but somehow funny for younger persons?


The word for "ice" in Greek is «πάγος» anyway, that's why she said so.


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## seitt

Many thanks to all – my conclusion is that μπούζι in Greek is closer to ‘buz gibi’ (like ice) rather than just ‘buz’ on its own.
In fact, ‘buz gibi’ is extremely common and idiomatic here, and was one of the first Turkish idioms I learnt here when I first came here many years ago (after three years in Greece), when the çaycı (τσαϊτζής – except that she was a lady – τσαϊτζήδισσα?) at the school where I worked used it to describe the state of my tea, hinting that I was spending too much time chatting and not enough time drinking it!


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## Acestor

seitt said:


> the çaycı (τσαϊτζής – except that she was a lady – τσαϊτζήδισσα?)



I'm sure you've heard of *καφετζού*, hence *τσαϊτζού* — though even τσαϊτζήδες does not seem to be part of our modern vocabulary.


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## seitt

Ah, yes, of course - thank you so much!


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## Yiagos

Μπούζι είναι βλάχικη λέξη  (it is used rarely in some villages by some old bumpkins, thus it is an old fashioned, out dated) and means cold. I remember now, my grandmother who used much this word...

Examples:
1) Που πας ρε χωρίς παλτό; Κάνει μπούζι έξω!
2) Ωραία μητέρα είσαι! Τι φαγητό δίνεις του μωρού; Μπούζι είναι η κρέμα!

Υπάρχει και η μπουτάλια LOL το ίδιο σημαίνει, αλλά τώρα μη ρωτάτε περισσότερα, από που προέρχονται οι μυστήριες αυτές λέξεις (I mean their roots). Πάντως αφού οι παππούδες με τις γιαγιάδες είναι πλέον ελάχιστοι, ας μην τις χρησιμοποιείτε αυτές τις λέξεις, γιατί θα γελάνε οι άλλοι μαζί σας (ειδικά οι πρωτευουσιάνοι).




seitt said:


> Btw, what does κρέμα mean in this context?


Δες *εδώ για* παράδειγμα, η κρέμα του μωρού


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## seitt

Many thanks, lovely examples!

Btw, what does κρέμα mean in this context?


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## winegrower

I tent to support Shawnee's version of the word being a turkish loan and mostly used among people with roots in Asia Minor. In northern greece, with many refugees, it is still in use -and not only for people over a certain age-as an alternative of "very cold", usually  for water and less for weather or else.


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## glavkos

I have heard the expression "Πιάσε ένα φραπέ και να'ναι μπούζι" in  a rural area (he likes his coffee very cold). 

I am also not against using these expressions. On the contrary, we should use them as the only way to keep them alive.


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## Αγγελος

The principal meaning of κρέμα in Greek is not "the thick part of raw milk" (that stuff is explicitly called κρέμα γάλακτος), but rather "cream of custard", "pudding". The word is also used for various vaseline-based medical or cosmetic products, as well as for various kinds of store-bought baby food with a creamy texture (φρουτόκρεμα, if it also contains mashed fruit). Such baby food would normally be kept in the refrigerator once opened, and so might be too cold to give to the baby right away.
By the way, as you may already know, the word 'cream' ultimately comes from Greek χρίσμα, originally meaning "ointment" (as in Christ, the Lord's Anointed), but nowadays only used for the sacrament of Confirmation, or figuratively.


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## seitt

Many thanks, fascinating!


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