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.

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 ______.

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Αἲξ θάλασσαν.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ _____.

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Πολλὰ καινὰ τοῦ πολέμου.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ ______.

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Ἕνα ἀλλὰ λέοντα.

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Κοσκίνῳ ______ ἀντλεῖς.

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Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

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Ἄλλην ______ βαλάνιζε.

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Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε.

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

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