# Line from an old silent film (1920s)



## alfie1888

Γεια σας! 

A friend of mine was watching an old black and white silent film set in New York. He asked me what it meant but I'm not 100% sure how to translate it. It's from the 1920s and I'm wondering if there would be a way to translate it using typical AE NY slang from that era? 

The context he gave me was this:

"Basically a Greek lady is yelling, from two stories up, at a bunch of kids who are fighting [below]."

If you can't open the attached image, it says: *"ΣΑΜΑΤΑ ΝΑ ΚΤΥΠΟΜΕΘΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΘΕ ΕΠΑΝΩ--or I'll knock you for a loop---" 
*
Really looking forward to your answers! I'm stumped!


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## Acestor

It's bad Greek, which was probably intended to say "Stop hitting each other and come up(stairs)".
In better Greek and if the same words were used it should be "Σταμάτα να χτυπιέστε και έλα επάνω".


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## uress

ITS NOT BAD GREEK AT ALL, its Katharevousa. 

Stamata na htyp*o*metha kai elthe epano. 

* With omega.


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## Acestor

It's trying to be katharevousa, but it's still bad katharevousa.


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## ireney

Even if we consider "Σαμάτα" a typo that would be "Σταμάτα" -> you (sing) stop
"κτυπόμεθα" is a not existing (in Katharevousa too) form that, if it existed would mean "we are being hit".
"ελθέ" goes back to second person singular. That one is at least correct "come".
I used to read a lot of things in Katharevousa in the past but it has been years since I've done so. Even so "ελθέ επάνω" seems to me like an odd combination for Katharevousa. Not very sure one would use "Σταμάτα" either to tell you the truth.

In other words, it's a mess.


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## palio99

The film is "Little Annie Rooney" -- a 1926 film starring Mary Pickford.


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## bearded

< Stamata na..>
Would ''na'' be correct in Katharevousa, or should it be ''ina''? Or is ''ina'' Ancient Greek only?


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## Αγγελος

uress said:


> ITS NOT BAD GREEK AT ALL, its Katharevousa.
> 
> Stamata na htyp*o*metha kai elthe epano.
> 
> * With omega.


It is ungrammatical, even in Katharevousa. If the form χτυπώμεθα existed, it would be first person plural!
Addressed as it is to several boys, the sentence should be Σταματήστε να χτυπιέστε και ελάτε επάνω.
If only one boy was being called home, it should be Σταμάτα να χτυπιέσαι και έλα επάνω.
Ελθέ for έλα would be correct in katharevousa, though no one would ever talk like that to a child, but σταματώ and χτυπιέμαι don't really belong to puristic Greek.


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## Αγγελος

bearded said:


> < Stamata na..>
> Would ''na'' be correct in Katharevousa, or should it be ''ina''? Or is ''ina'' Ancient Greek only?


Nα was extensively used in _katharevousa. _Ίνα only meant 'in order to'; να was used just as in ordinary speech to introduce a dependent subjunctive. The alternative would have been to use an infinitive, saying e.g. βούλομαι φαγεῖν instead of θέλω να φάγω, but that form was much too dead to be used except by the most fanatical archaizers. The infinitive was only used with the article, as in the Απαγορεύεται το καπνίζειν και το πτύειν (= Smoking and spitting forbidden) signs that I remember seeing in buses and trains, or jocularly, as in Στρίβειν διά τοῦ αρραβῶνος, where στρίβω, normally meaning 'turn', is used in its slangy meaning of 'sneak away'.


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