Greek Proverb of the Day

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

• φιλίαν, from φίλιος.
• φύλαττε, from φυλάσσω.

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

Preserve friendship.

The nice word-play in the Greek doesn't come through in the English, alas. This is another one of the sayings recorded in the Delphic Maxims of Stobaeus. This is the Attic form of the verb φυλάσσ-. You can see the root of this Greek verb in English "prophylactic." 

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Μακραὶ ______ χεῖρες.

reveal/hide answer

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

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Γλαῦκας εἰς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

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Ἔργου ______ οἱ λόγοι.

reveal/hide answer

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

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_______ φύλαττε.

reveal/hide answer

Φιλίαν φύλαττε.

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____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

reveal/hide answer

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 17

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

• γλαῦκας, from γλαύξ.
• εἰς, from εἰς.
• Ἀθήνας, from Ἀθῆναι.

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

(Bringing) owls to Athens.

This refers to a foolish effort: there's no need to bring owls to Athens because Athens is full of owls. The owls that lived in the Parthenon were a symbol of Athens, and the coins of Athens were stamped with owls. Compare the English proverbial phrase, "coals to Newcastle."

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἔργου ______ οἱ λόγοι.

reveal/hide answer

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

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Γλαῦκας εἰς ______.

reveal/hide answer

Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.

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Μακραὶ ______ χεῖρες.

reveal/hide answer

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

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____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

reveal/hide answer

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

reveal/hide answer

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 16

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

• ἔργου, from ἔργον.
• σκιὰ, from σκιά.
• οἱ, from ὁ.
• λόγοι, from λόγος.

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

Words (are) the shadow of the deed.

You can see the Greek root εργ- in English words like energy and ergonomic. Meanwhile, the word σκιὰ is lurking in the English word "squirrel," as the squirrel was called σκίουρος in Greek: σκιά-οὐρά, shadow-tail, thanks to the way its big busy tail is like an umbrella! (Meanwhile, "umbrella" is from the Latin word for shadow: umbra.)

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

reveal/hide answer

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

reveal/hide answer

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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Μακραὶ ______ χεῖρες.

reveal/hide answer

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

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____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

reveal/hide answer

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

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Ἔργου ______ οἱ λόγοι.

reveal/hide answer

Ἔργου σκιὰ οἱ λόγοι.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 15

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

• θεὸς, from θεός.
• διά.
• πάντα, from πᾶς.
• τελευτᾷ, from τελευτάω.

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

God brings all things to completion.

The words come from Homer's Iliad, when Agamemnon is basically blaming Zeus for his quarrel with Achilles. The word διὰ is not a preposition here; instead, it is functioning as an adverb; later, these adverbs attached themselves to the verbs as prefixes (δια-τελευτάω), but they were more free-floating in Homer. This is called tmesis, "cutting" of the verb; you can read more at Wikipedia: Tmesis. The root of the verb is τέλος, meaning the end or outcome, and you can see that Greek root in English teleology.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

reveal/hide answer

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

reveal/hide answer

Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.

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Μακραὶ ______ χεῖρες.

reveal/hide answer

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

reveal/hide answer

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 14

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

• μακραὶ, from μακρός.
• τυράννων, from τύραννος.
• χεῖρες, from χείρ.

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

Long (are) the hands of tyrants.

Compare the English proverb, "Kings have long arms." In other words, kings, tyrants, etc. can exert their dangerous power at a distance. And yes, the English word "tyrant" comes from the Greek. Compare an expanded version in Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac: "Kings have long Arms, but Misfortune longer: Let none think themselves out of her Reach."

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Μακραὶ ______ χεῖρες.

reveal/hide answer

Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

reveal/hide answer

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

reveal/hide answer

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

reveal/hide answer

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 13

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

• κοσκίνῳ, from κόσκινον.
• ὕδωρ, from ὕδωρ.
• ἀντλεῖς, from ἀντλέω.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

You're drawing water with a sieve.

This is a fool's errand: you can scoop all you want, but the sieve is not going to hold the water. Compare a similar saying you've seen before: Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ φέρει, "He's carrying water in a sieve." The original meaning of the verb ἀντλέω is to bale bilgewater; the noun ἄντλος means bilgewater.

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Αἲξ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Αἲξ θάλασσαν.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

reveal/hide answer

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

reveal/hide answer

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

reveal/hide answer

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

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Greek Proverb of the Day: October 12

Here is today's proverb from the blog with a LOLcat and vocabulary too! This is a repeat of a proverb you've seen before, but the vocabulary list is new. The vocabulary links go to Logeion.

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

• ἄλλην, from ἄλλος.
• δρῦν, from δρῦς.
• βαλάνιζε, from βαλανίζω (from βάλανος)

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

Shake down acorns from some other oak.

In other words: stop borrowing money from me; go borrow from somebody else! The verb βαλανίζω is from the noun βάλανος, meaning "acorn," i.e. "acorn-ize." From the Greek root ἄλλ-, we get English words like allograph, which is a signature that someone makes for another person. 

And here's a quiz covering the past five cats (answers at the blog only, not in the email):

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

reveal/hide answer

Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

reveal/hide answer

Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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Αἲξ ______.

reveal/hide answer

Αἲξ θάλασσαν.

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Σπεῦδε ______.

reveal/hide answer

Σπεῦδε βραδέως.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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