# The expression: it’s (all) Greek to me



## Schrodinger's_Cat

*it’s (all) Greek to me*

In Italian, it is: per me è arabo

"arabo" is the arabic language.

In French (3 expressions): 

- Pour moi, c'est du chinois.
- C’est du russe pour moi.
- c’est de l’hébreu.

There are 3 different languages (Chinese, Russian and Hebrew)

But in Spanish the expression is: hablar en griego!

which means 'to speak in Greek'

we have a match! -- a match between the English and the Spanish.

Is there a reason? A historical, perhaps a linguistic reason?

The expression, * "it's (all) Greek to me"* is usually attributed to William Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar... but the same phrase had been used the year before (1600) by another Elizabethan playwright, Thomas Dekker ...

Please read the entry --> http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre1.htm


I'm also curious about this: ""Griego" said to be the origin of the word 'gringo'"

Could anyone explain all this?


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## Erick404

I cant explain it all (in fact, I didnt even know that such expressions existed in various languages), but an interesting point is that all the mentioned "non-inteligible" languages (Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic) use alphabets other than the latin one. 
In Portuguese we also have such expressions involving Greek, and I suspected that the different alphabet would be a good explanation (although such expressions are usually related to what is spoken, not written).


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## Meyer Wolfsheim

I think it is also worth noting that all of these languages grammaticly have considerable differences from Spanish, English, French, and Italian and these four languages would regard any of those as being quite unintelligible but the different writing system is probably the real source of these idiomatic expressions.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

BenVitale said:


> As far as I know, the expression in Spanish is *hablar en chino*, *eso me suena a chino*.


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## pickypuck

Yep, as PABLO DE SOTO has already said, in Spanish and at least in Spain, it's Chinese. Just to add that in German (and apparently in other langauges including Serbian, Slovak or Slovene among others) is Spanish
About the origin of "gringo", there are some theories compiled in Wikipedia. It's not an academic source but I think it's worth to have a look at what it says. At least it's a start.
Cheers.


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## Juan Nadie

Hello, maybe this helps a little
Greek to me

And... I am another one who has never heard it in Spain, just chinese.


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## phosphore

pickypuck said:


> Yep, as PABLO DE SOTO has already said, in Spanish and at least in Spain, it's Chinese. Just to add that in German (and apparently in other langauges including Serbian, Slovak or Slovene among others) is Spanish
> About the origin of "gringo", there are some theories compiled in Wikipedia. It's not an academic source but I think it's worth to have a look at what it says. At least it's a start.
> Cheers.


 
Actually, the expression _španska sela_ (literally: _Spanish villages_) is never used for expressions or languages one does not understand, it is exclusively used for subjects one knows nothing about, such as physics or mathematics. Languages and expressions one does not understand would be compared to Chinese.


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## pickypuck

phosphore said:


> Actually, the expression _španska sela_ (literally: _Spanish villages_) is never used for expressions or languages one does not understand, it is exclusively used for subjects one knows nothing about, such as physics or mathematics. Languages and expressions one does not understand would be compared to Chinese.


 
That's why in Wikipedia they have both Spanish and Chinese for Serbian. Thank you for the remark


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## Forero

In Mexico, if someone says something in German, the reply is generally "¡¡Salud!!"
That's not the name of a language, but an expression used when someone sneezes.

It is curious how languages sound to each other's speakers.


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## sokol

Moderator note:

We already have an All Languages thread about things which are all Greek to us - please post versions of that phrase (or alternatives) over there. 

Please focus in this thread on the *origin *of the expression.
Thanks a lot!
Cheers
sokol
Moderator EHL


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## Imber Ranae

Forero said:


> In Mexico, if someone says something in German, the reply is generally "¡¡Salud!!"
> That's not the name of a language, but an expression used when someone sneezes.
> 
> It is curious how languages sound to each other's speakers.



I've heard that expression in English, too, with the equivalent "bless you". It's a remark on the perceived gutturalness of German phonology, and is more of a joke than anything.


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## Schrodinger's_Cat

Thanks to all for the feedback.

That's very helpful.


pickypuck said:


> ........... is Spanish
> About the origin of "gringo", there are some theories compiled in Wikipedia.




That's awesome! I enjoyed this mathematical model.



Juan Nadie said:


> Hello, maybe this helps a little
> Greek to me
> 
> .....


 

Does the expression "It's all Greek to me" come from a Latin proverb *"Graecum est; non potest legi"* (It is Greek; it cannot be read)


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## sokol

BenVitale said:


> Does the expression "It's all Greek to me" come from a Latin proverb *"Graecum est; non potest legi"* (It is Greek; it cannot be read)


The full sentence from that site - Strange Maps - would be:


> In the *Middle Ages*, for example, when the monks’ knowledge of Greek was waning, they would write in the margin of texts they could not translate, in Latin: “Graecum est, non legitur”



So the answer is, yes, they say so on this site but no, without further sources we cannot be sure that they're right: let's not jump to immature conclusions. 
(For what its worth I consider it likely that they're right but I haven't researched this subject at all so I shouldn't be so bold to say that they are. ;-)


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## alinapopi

Hi,

In Romanian we use _speak in Turkish _and I suppose this has its origin in the Otoman Empire time, when Turkish conquered different parts of Romania (it' only a supposition).


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## Outsider

BenVitale said:


> Does the expression "It's all Greek to me" come from a Latin proverb *"Graecum est; non potest legi"* (It is Greek; it cannot be read)


The standard form of that saying in Latin is *Graecum est, non legitur*: "it's Greek, don't read it".

I suppose originally it could have been something said by senior priests in western Europe who were teaching Latin to junior priests, using ancient works written in Latin but interspersed with Greek words. This is just my theory.


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