GREEK TO ME

'That's Greek to me' or 'It's (all) Greek to me' is an idiom/dead metaphor in English, claiming that an expression is incomprehensible, either due to complexity or imprecision. The expression may be used with respect to verbal expressions with excessive jargon of dialect, mathematics, or science. The metaphor makes reference to the Greek language and the Greek alphabet (either ancient or modern).
The usage of the metaphor in English language traces back to mediaeval times:
:but those that understood him smiled at one another and
:shook their heads; but, for mine own part, 'it was Greek to me'
::(William Shakespeare, ''The Tragedy of Julius Caesar'' (1599)
The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"; rarely or never "Greek to him").
Different languages have similar formulations. Many have picked the point of reference to be a foreign language with another alphabet or writing system.
This is an example the usage of demonyms in relation to the ability of a people to be understood, comparable to the development of the words ''barbarian'' (one who murmurs), ''Nemecky'' (Slavic for "one who is not understood", indicating Germans).

Contents

In other languages

References

See also

External links

In other languages

'Language'	''Phrase''	IPA	"target" language	"target" writing system
'English'	That's Greek to me.		''Greek''	''Greek alphabet''
'Arabic'	.يتحدث باللغة الصينية		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Arabic'	.يحكي كرشوني		''Garshuni''	''Syriac alphabet''
'Chavacano'	Aleman ese comigo.		''German''	''German alphabet''
'Dutch'	Dat is Chinees voor mij.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Esperanto'	Tio estas Volapukaĵo.		''Volapük''	''Volapuk alphabet''
'Finnish'	Täyttä hepreaa.		''Hebrew''	''Hebrew alphabet''
'French'	.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'German'	.		''Spanish''	''Latin alphabet''
'Greek'	Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Hebrew'	זה סינית בשבילי		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Hungarian'	Ez nekem kínai.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Italian'	Per me, questo è arabo; or also: Questo per me è arabo[1]		''Arabic''	''Arabic alphabet''
'Medieval Latin'	Ille graecus a me est.		''Greek''	''Greek alphabet''
'Montenegrin'	To su za mene španska sela.		''Spanish''	''Spanish alphabet''
'Lithuanian'	Tai man kaip kinų kalba.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Persian'	غلنبه سلنبه		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Polish'	To dla mnie chińszczyzna.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Portuguese'	Isto é chinês para mim.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Russian'	Это для меня китайская грамота.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Serbian'	То су за мене шпанска села.		''Spanish''	''Spanish alphabet''
'Slovak'	To je pre mňa španielska dedina.		''Spanish''	''Spanish alphabet''
'Spanish'	Esto me suena a chino.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Turkish'	Konuya Fransız kaldım.[2]		''French''	''French alphabet''
'Ukrainian'	Це для мене китайська грамота.		''Chinese''	''Chinese character''
'Yiddish'	ס'איז תּרגום־לשון צו מיר		''Aramaic''	''Aramaic abjad''

References

1. [1]
2. [2]

See also

★ Barbarian

★ Writing system

External links

★ Translations of "it's all Greek to me" on Omniglot.com

★ Translations of "it's all Greek to me" on Wordreference.com