# A word that I hear quite often but can't figure out "Mεινκε"



## chrislols

Whenever I'm around Greek speakers and they're getting hastey possibly I hear them say something like "Meen-keh" and the only spelling I can think of might be something like "Μεινκε". 

The context that I've heard it used would be like

 "Meen-keh! This guy takes forever doesn't he?"
"Meen-keh, πού είσαι;"

I'm not sure if anyone can help me from what I described but if you could it'd be great! Thanks alot


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## winegrower

Well I 'm not sure I can catch the subtle shades of this term (!) but I'm afraid the word you 've heard is probably "μαλάκα" (pronounced malaka), unfortunately the No1 slang greek word worldwide, meaning a lot of things, from dude, pal to asshole, jackass etc (see here).


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## chrislols

winegrower said:


> Well I 'm not sure I can catch the subtle shades of this term (!) but I'm afraid the word you 've heard is probably "μαλάκα" (pronounced malaka), unfortunately the No1 slang greek word worldwide, meaning a lot of things, from dude, pal to asshole, jackass etc (see here).



Ευχαριστώ για τη βοήθεια, αυτό δεν είναι ό, τι ψάχνω για..

Δεν μπορώ να βρώ μετάφραση για αυτή τη λέξη.

I am positive the sound is like "meen-keh".


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## cougr

" Whenever I'm around Greek speakers and they're getting hastey possibly I hear them say something like "Meen-keh" and the only spelling I can think of might be something like "Μεινκε". "

Hi chrislols , as soon as I read this I got the impression that it might be a distortion of the phrase *νυν και αεί* which is used in Greek orthodox liturgies and means 'now and forever' . However ,if it is the case that this is the phrase you are referring to, I am not sure of its meaning outside of its liturgical context but I have occassionally heard it expressed in everyday speech . Maybe a native Greek speaker can shed further light on this.


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## winegrower

Small correction: αυτό δεν είναι ό, τι ψάχνω για.. Δεν είναι αυτό που ψάχνω or δεν είναι αυτό για το οποίο ψάχνω ( you used english construction!).
Sorry for not being able to help you. Did you mean *husty* in your original post? Could you provide some more details or context, like where are these people from, where did you here that etc. This sound reminds me of the italian minchia, another sicilian slang word with similar meaning to the one I mentioned.


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## emboscada

Maybe the guy who's constantly late is called "Γεράσιμος", and his friends use its diminutive, "Μικές", occasionally.


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## shawnee

I agree with winegrower you have probably been listening to Italians of a certain class. Their use of 'minchia' is the Italian equivalent to the Greek 'malaka.' (not the same meaning though) The Italian forum has dealt with the term. If this is incorrect then your ears have deceived you. Try listening again.


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## cougr

Or  it may have been " *μάγκα, *πού είσαι; " 

PS : emboscada , I always thought 'Mikes' was the diminutive of Mixalh .


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