Greek to me

Idiom for knowledge not understandable

That's Greek to me or it's (all) Greek to me is an idiom in English referring to material that the speaker finds difficult or impossible to understand. It is commonly used in reference to a complex or imprecise verbal or written expression, that may use unfamiliar jargon, dialect, or symbols. The metaphor refers to the Greek language, which is unfamiliar to most English speakers, and additionally uses a largely dissimilar alphabet.

## Origins

[edit]

It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in Latin: Graecum est, non legitur ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read").[1] The phrase is widely believed to have its origins among medieval scribes. While most scribes were familiar with Latin, few people in medieval Western Europe, even among the intellectual classes, were schooled in Greek. When copying classic manuscripts they would frequently encounter passages and quotations in Greek which they would have no way of translating, and as such would note the phrase in the margins.[citation needed]

Recorded usage of the metaphor in English traces back to the early modern period. It appears in 1599 in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, as spoken by Servilius Casca to Cassius after a festival in which Caesar was offered a crown:

> CASSIUS: Did Cicero say any thing?

> CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.

> CASSIUS: To what effect?

> CASCA: Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it.

> — William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (1599)

Here, Casca's literal ignorance of Greek is the source of the phrase, using its common meaning to play on the uncertainty among the conspirators about Cicero's attitude to Caesar's increasingly regal behaviour.

Shakespeare was not the only author of this period to use the expression. It was also used in 1603 by Thomas Dekker in his play Patient Grissel:

> FAR: Asking for a Greek poet, to him he fails. I'll be sworn he knows not so much as one character of the tongue.
>  RIC: Why, then it's Greek to him.

> — Thomas Dekker, Patient Grissel (1603)

The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"); Dekker's "Greek to him" is rare.

## Variations

[edit]

Other languages have similar formulations, some referring to Greek but many referring to foreign languages such as Chinese or Spanish. Many refer to a language with different alphabet or writing system.

This is an example of 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 babbles), Nemec (Slavic for "the mute one," indicating Germans).

In an article published by Arnold L. Rosenberg in the language journal Lingvisticæ Investigationes, he claimed that there was a popular "consensus" that Chinese was the "hardest" language, since various non-English languages most frequently used the Chinese language in their equivalent expression to the English idiom "it's all Greek to me".[2] David Moser of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies reached a similar conclusion.[3]

Language | Phrase | Pronunciation | Translation | Target language / meaning

|
|
|
|

English | It's Double Dutch.[citation needed] |  |  | Double Dutch (Tutnese)
That's Greek to me.[citation needed] |  |  | Greek
Chicken scratch.[citation needed] |  |  | illegible writing
Albanian | Mos fol kinezce.[citation needed] |  | Do not speak Chinese. | Chinese
Afrikaans | Dis Grieks vir my.[citation needed] |  | It's Greek to me. | Greek
Ancient Greek | Αὐτὸ ἐστὶ σηρικὸν περὶ ἐμοί.[citation needed] | [au̯ˌto esˌti sɛːriˌkon peˌri eˈmoi̯] | It's Chinese to me. | Chinese
Arabic | يتحدث باللغة الصينية[citation needed] | yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah aṣ-Ṣīnīyah
[jataˈħadːaθ bɪlˈluɣa asˤːiːˈniːja] | He's speaking Chinese. | Chinese
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Syrian Colloquial | يحكي كرشوني[citation needed] | yaḥki Karšūni
[ˈjaħki karˈʃuːni] | He's speaking Syriac. | Syriac, using the Garshuni (Arabic) script as a reference to it.
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Egyptian Colloquial | بيتكلم بالهندي[citation needed] | byatkallam bel-hendi
[bjætˈkælːæm belˈhendi] | He's speaking Hindi. | Hindi
The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Asturian | Suename chinu
Ta'n chinu.[citation needed] |  | It sounds like Chinese to me.
It's in Chinese. | Chinese
Bulgarian | Все едно ми говориш на патагонски.[citation needed] | Vse edno mi govoriš na patagonski.
[fsɛ ɛdˈnɔ mi ɡɔˈvɔriʃ na pataˈɡɔnskʲi] | It's as if you're talking in Patagonian. | "Patagonian" (not a real language)
Cantonese | 鬼畫符 / 鬼画符[citation needed] | gwai2 waak6 fu4
[liː˥ kɔ˧ hɐi˨ mɐi˨ kwɐi˧˥ waːk̚˨ fuː˨˩ aː˧] | Ghost script? | No specific set phrase, treated like any ordinary language, eg. "Is this ghost script?" "Is this written in Martian?"
火星話 / 火星话[citation needed] | fo2 sing1 waa6
[fɔ˥ sɪŋ˨ waː˧] | Martian
Catalan | Com si diguessis Llúcia[citation needed] | [kom si di'ɣes:is 'ʎusiə] | As if you say Lucy; not referring to a language |
Cebuano | Linatin[citation needed] |  | Latin | Latin, a language used in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners.
Ininsik[citation needed] |  | Chinese | Chinese
Chavacano | Aleman ese comigo.[citation needed] |  | It's German to me. | German
Croatian | To su za mene španska sela.[citation needed] | [tô su za měne ʃpǎːnska sêla] | These are to me the Spanish countryside. | Spanish
Czech | To je pro mě španělská vesnice.[citation needed] | [ˈto jɛ ˈpro mɲɛ ˈʃpaɲɛlskaː ˈvɛsɲɪtsɛ] | This is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish
Danish | Det rene volapyk.[citation needed] | [te̝ ˈʁeˀnə volɑˈpʰyk] | This is pure Volapük | Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Det er en by i Rusland.[citation needed] |  | This is a town in Russia. | Russian
Kaudervælsk[citation needed] |  | Romansh | Romansh, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in Switzerland
Dutch | Dat is Chinees voor mij.[citation needed] | [dɑt ɪs ʃiˈneːs foːr mɛi][4] | That is Chinese to me. | Chinese
Ik snap er geen jota van. |  | I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.[5] | Greek
Esperanto | Tio estas volapukaĵo.[citation needed] | [ˈtio ˈestas volapuˈkaʒo] | It's all Volapük. | Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Estonian | See on mulle hiina keel.[citation needed] |  | This is Chinese to me. | Chinese
Filipino | Parang Intsik[citation needed] |  | It looks like Chinese. | Chinese
Finnish | Täyttä hepreaa.[citation needed] | [ˈtæy̯tːæ ˈhepreɑː] | It's all Hebrew. | Hebrew
Kuulostaa siansaksalta[citation needed] |  | Sounds like pig's German | gibberish
harakanvarpaita (refers to undecipherable writing)[citation needed] |  | Magpie's toes | unintelligible writing (gibberish)
French | C'est du chinois.
C'est de l'hébreu.
C'est du russe.[citation needed] | [s‿ɛ dy ʃinwa]
[s‿ɛ də l‿ebʁø]
[s‿ɛ dy ʁys] | It's Chinese.
It's Hebrew.
It's Russian. | Chinese
Hebrew
Russian
German | Das kommt mir spanisch vor.[citation needed] |  | That sounds like Spanish to me. (usually meant to indicate something is fishy) | Spanish
Spreche ich Chinesisch?[citation needed] |  | Am I speaking Chinese? | Chinese
Fachchinesisch[citation needed] |  | specialty Chinese (meaning technical jargon) | Chinese
Kauderwelsch[citation needed] |  | trade Romance | Mediterranean Lingua Franca
Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich[citation needed] | [ˌbøːmɪʃə ˈdœʁfɐ] | These are Bohemian villages to me | Czech, Bohemia being a region of the neighbouring Czech Republic that is nearest to Germany.
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof[citation needed] |  | All I understand is "train station." |
Polnisch rückwärts[citation needed] |  | Polish [spoken] in reverse | Polish
Greek, Standard Modern | Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα.[citation needed] | [afˈta mu ˈfenɔːnde ciˈnezika] | This strikes me as Chinese | Chinese
Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα.[citation needed] | [afˈta mu ˈfeno(n)de ala(m)burˈnezika] | These seem to me gobbledygook. | "Alaburnese" (similar to gibberish)
Greek, Cypriot | Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς;[citation needed] | [e‿ˈⁿduɾ̥t͡ʃi̞kɐ p̬u mi↗ˈlɐs] | Are you speaking Turkish? | Turkish
Hebrew | זה סינית בשבילי[citation needed] | [ze sinit biʃvili] | It's Chinese to me! | Chinese
כתב חרטומים[citation needed] | [ktav ħartˤumim] | The script of a pharaoh's magicians (i.e. hieroglyphics) | Hieroglyphics
Hindi,

Urdu

| क्या मैं फ़ारसी बोल रहा हूँ?[citation needed]

کیا میں فارسی بول رہا ہوں؟[citation needed]

| Kyā maĩ fārsī bol rahā hū̃?  | Am I speaking Persian?  | Persian
Hungarian | Ez nekem kínai.[citation needed] | [ˈɛz ˈnɛkɛm ˈkiːnɒi] | It's Chinese to me. | Chinese
Icelandic | Þetta kemur mér spánskt fyrir sjónir.[citation needed] |  | This looks like Spanish to me. | Spanish
Indonesian | (Tulisan) Cakar ayam[citation needed] |  | Chicken feet | gibberish
Refers to unreadable writing.
Bahasa planet[citation needed] |  | (Other-)planet language | alien language
Italian | Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto/turco/cinese[citation needed] | [ˈkwesto per ˈme ˌɛ ˈaːrabo], [araˈmaiko], [ostroˈɡɔːto], [ˈtu:rko], [tʃiˈne:ze] | This is Arabic/Aramaic/Ostrogoth/Turkish/Chinese to me | Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth, Turkish, Chinese
Japanese | 珍紛漢紛[citation needed] | Chinpun kanpun
[ˈtɕimpɯŋkamˌpɯɴ] | "Ching chong" | formal speech
Refers to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible Chinese loanwords.
Javanese | ꦕꦺꦏꦺꦂꦥꦶꦛꦶꦏ꧀[citation needed] | [t͡ʃɛkɛr piʈɪˀ] | Chicken scratch | illegible handwriting
ꦧꦱꦮꦭꦺꦴꦟ꧀ꦝ[citation needed] | [bʰɔsɔ walɔɳɖɔ] | Dutch language | Dutch
Korean | 횡설수설하고 있다[citation needed] | Hoengseolsuseolhago itta | They are speaking horizontally and vertically. | gibberish, especially for unrecognizable spoken language or incoherence.
괴발개발[citation needed]
(refers to unreadable writing) | Goebalgaebal | Cat's footprints and dog's footprints | gibberish
아무 말이나 한다[citation needed] | Amu marina handa | They are speaking out random words. | gibberish
외계어를 한다[citation needed] | Oegyeeoreul handa | They are speaking in an alien language. | alien language
개소리를 한다[citation needed] | Gaesorireul handa | They are making a dog's sound. | gibberish
Latin | Graecum est; nōn legitur[citation needed] | [ˈɡrae̯kum est noːn ˈleɡitur] | [It] is Greek; [it is] not legible/[it is] illegible | Greek
Latvian | Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece[citation needed] | [taː man ir ciːnieʃu aːbetse] | This is Chinese alphabet book to me | Chinese
Lithuanian | Tai man kaip kinų kalba.[citation needed] | [taɪ mɐn kaɪp kinuˑ kɐlba] | It's Chinese to me | Chinese
Lojban | ti itku'ile ga'a mi[6][7] |  | It's Ithkuil to me | Ithkuil
Macedonian | За мене тоа е шпанско село.[citation needed] | Za mene toa e špansko selo.
[za mɛnɛ tɔa ɛ ʃpaŋskɔ sɛlɔ] | It is for me a Spanish village. | Spanish
Malay | (Tulisan) Cakar ayam[citation needed] |  | Chicken feet | gibberish
Refers to unreadable writing.
Mandarin | 天書/ 天书。[citation needed] | Kànqǐlái xiàng tiān shū
[tʰjɛn˥ ʂu˥] | Looks like a book from Heaven | "Heaven's language"
Refers to an unknown writing system, or incomprehensible content, c.f. A Book from the Sky.
鬼畫符 / 鬼画符[citation needed] | Zhè shì guǐhuàfú ma?
[kwei˨˩ hwa˥˩ fu˧˥] | ghost-drawn marks | "ghost language"
Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
鳥語。/ 鸟语[citation needed] | Niǎo Yǔ
[njɑʊ̯˧˥ y˨˩] | bird language.
| "bird language" (bird song)
Refers to incomprehensible speech.
火星文[citation needed] | Huǒxīng wén
[xwɔ˨˩ ɕiŋ˥ wən˧˥] | Martian writing | "Martian"
Usually refers to comically unconventional writing, but is also often used in the same context of unintelligible words or text.
Low Saxon | Dat kümmt mi spaansch vör.[citation needed] | [dat kymt miː spoːnʃ føɐ] | That seems like Spanish to me. | Spanish
Norwegian | Det er helt gresk for meg.[citation needed] |  | It's complete Greek to me | Greek
Persian | مگه ترکی حرف میزنم؟[citation needed] | [mæge torkiː hærf miːzænæm] | Am I speaking Turkish? | Turkish
Polish | To dla mnie chińszczyzna.[citation needed] | [ˈtɔ dla ˈmɲɛ xʲij̃ˈʂtʂɨzna] | To me it's Chinese | Chinese
Siedzieć jak na tureckim kazaniu[citation needed] | [ˈɕɛdʑɛtɕ ˈjak na tuˈrɛtskʲim kaˈzaɲu] | Sit as in a Turkish sermon | Turkish
Czeski film[citation needed] | [ˈtʂɛskʲi ˈfilm] | Czech movie (this one refers to an incomprehensible situation rather than words, coined after a wave of absurdist movies in Czech cinematography) | Czech
Portuguese | Isto para mim é chinês.[citation needed] | [ˈiʃtu pɐɾɐ ˈmĩ ɛ ʃiˈneʃ] | This is Chinese to me | Chinese (Portugal)
Isto para mim é grego.[citation needed] | [ˈiʃtu pɐɾɐ ˈmĩ ɛ ˈɣɾeɣu] | This is Greek to me | Greek (Portugal)
Proto-Germanic | *Þat isti Walhiskǭ/Winidiskǭ furi mek.[citation needed] | [θɑt ˈis.ti ˈwɑlxis.kɔ̃ː/ˈwiniðiskɔ̃ː ˈɸuri mek] | It's Proto-Italic/Proto-Slavic for me. | Proto-Italic, Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic | *To estь Němьčьskъjь/Volšьskъjь děľa mę.[citation needed] | [tɔ ɛstɪ nɛːmɪt͡ʃɪskʊjɪ/ʋɔlʃɪskʊjɪ dɛːʎɑː mɛ̃ː] | It's Proto-Germanic/Proto-Italic for me. | Proto-Germanic, Proto-Italic
Romanian | Parcă e chineză.[citation needed]
| [ˈparkə je kiˈnezə] | It's like Chinese. | Chinese
Ești turc?[citation needed] | [jeʃtʲ ˈtuɾk] | Are you Turkish? | Turkish
Nu înțeleg o iotă.[citation needed] | [nu ɨnˈt͡se.leɡ o jo.tə]  | I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.  | Greek
Russian | Это для меня китайская грамота.[citation needed] | Eto dlja menjá kitájskaja grámota.
[ˈɛtə ˈdʲlʲæ mʲɪˈnʲæ kʲɪˈtajskəjə ˈɡramətə] | That's Chinese writing to me. | Chinese, but emphasis is put on reading rather than speaking. The phrase is often applied when not understanding branches of knowledge like chemistry, maths or computing due to lack of familiarity.
Как курица лапой.[citation needed] |  | Like [scribbled by] chicken feet. | gibberish
Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
Serbian | То су за мене шпанска села.
To su za mene španska sela.[citation needed] | [to su za mene ʃpanska sela] | These are to me a Spanish village. | Spanish
К'о да кинески причаш.
K'o da kineski pričaš.[citation needed] |  | Like speaking in Chinese | Chinese
Slovak | To je pre mňa španielska dedina.[citation needed] | [to je pre mɲa ʃpaɲielska ɟeɟina] | That is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish
Slovene | To mi je španska vas[citation needed] | [ˈtóː mi jɛ ˈʃpáːnska ˈʋáːs] | That is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish
Spanish | Está en chino/arameo/ruso.
Me suena a chino/arameo/ruso.[citation needed] | [esˈta en ˈtʃino], [aɾaˈmeo]
[me ˈswena a ˈtʃino], [aɾaˈmeo] | This is in Chinese/Aramaic/Russian.
It sounds like Chinese/Aramaic/Russian to me. | Chinese, Aramaic, Russian
No entiendo ni jota | [no enˈtjendo ni ˈxota] | I don't understand one iota of it.
Reference to Matthew 5:18.[8] | Greek
Swedish | Det är rena grekiskan.[citation needed] | [ˈdeː æ ˈrěːna ˈɡrěːkɪskan] | It's pure Greek | Greek
Turkish | Konuya Fransız kaldım.[9] | [konuja fɾansɯz kaɫˈdɯm] | I am French to the topic. | French, as from the viewpoint of a French person who doesn't understand any Turkish.
Anladıysam Arap olayım.[10] | [anɫaˈdɯjsam aˈɾap oɫajɯm] | let me blacken, get dark skin ("turn into Arab") if I understood it
(in Turkish "Arap olayım" is used in idioms in similar sense to "God strike me down if ...", to emphasize that something is not true)[11]
(informal, old-fashioned, offensive)[12] | None (Arab doesn't refer to nationality or language, but skin color)
Ukrainian | Це для мене китайська грамота.[citation needed] | Tse dlja mene kitajs'ka gramota.
[ˈtsɛ dʲlʲɐ ˈmɛne kɪˈtɑjsʲkɐ ˈɦrɑmotɐ] | That's Chinese writing to me. | Chinese
Venetian | Par mi xe turco.[citation needed] | [paɾ ˈmi ˌzɛ ˈtuɾko] | To me this is Turkish. | Turkish
Vietnamese | Nhìn/nghe như tiếng Miên.[citation needed] |  | (It) looks/sounds like Khmer | Khmer
Yiddish | תּרגום־לשון
טערקיש
אָץ־קוצץ־לשון
מלאָכים־לשון
חרטמים־לשון [citation needed] | targem-loshn
terkish
ots-koytsets-loshn
malokhim-loshn
khartumim-loshn | targum language (i.e. that of Aramaic translations of the Bible)
Turkish
gibberish
the language of angels
the language of a pharaoh's magicians (i.e. hieroglyphics) | Aramaic / Turkish / gibberish / angelic language / Hieroglyphics

## See also

[edit]

* Greeking
* Gringo, originally meaning a foreign language as unintelligible as Greek

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Etymology of Gringo". 17 April 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2021. "The same phrase ["It was Greek to me"] was also used (at about the same time) by another Elizabethan playwright, Thomas Dekker, but its origins are much older: it comes from the Medieval Latin proverb Graecum est; non potest legi (i.e., "It is Greek; it cannot be read")."
2. ^ Rosenberg, Arnold L. (January 1979). "The Hardest Natural Languages". Lingvisticæ Investigationes. 3 (2): 323–339. doi:10.1075/li.3.2.07ros. ISSN 0378-4169.
3. ^ Moser, D. Pīnyīn.Info. Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard. Retrieved Jun 4, 2011, http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ In isolation, voor is pronounced [voːr].
5. ^ "Ergens geen jota van snappen". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
6. ^ Glosbe at the word itku'ile
7. ^ Note also a related occurrence: Rachel Gardener's “lo nabmi” (“The problem”) song at 00:27: “.i .ia nadme'a fa la .itku'ile .'enai” (“I think Ithkuil would be easier than this”).
8. ^ Morcillo, José Juan. "Biblismos". La Tribuna de Albacete.
9. ^ "Güncel Türkçe Sözlük'te Söz Arama" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
10. ^ "Hürriyet Arama". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
11. ^ "Güncel Türkçe Sözlük'te Söz Arama" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
12. ^ ""Anladıysam Arap olayım" sözü rafa mı kalkıyor?" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-23.

## External links

[edit]

Look up it's all Greek to me in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Omniglot: "Translations of It's all Greek/Chinese/Hebrew/Arabic to me in many languages".
* Translations of "it's all Greek to me" on Wordreference.com[permanent dead link]
* Mark Liberman (January 15, 2009). "The directed graph of stereotypical incomprehensibility". Language Log.

* v
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William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Sources|

* Parallel Lives

Screen
adaptations|

* Julius Caesar (1914 film)
* Julius Caesar (1950 film)
* Julius Caesar (1953 film)
* The Spread of the Eagle (1963; TV)
* Julius Caesar (1970 film)
* BBC Television Shakespeare (TV)
* Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (TV)

Inspired work|

* La morte di Cesare (1788)
* The Assassination of Julius Caesar (Sullivan)
* Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar" (1907)
* Caesar (1937)
* Die Ermordung Cäsars (1959)
* Dead Caesar (2007)
* The Karaoke King (2007)
* Roman Tragedies (2007)
* Julius Caesar (overture, 1851)
* Zulfiqar (2016)

Quotes|

* "The dogs of war"
* "Et tu, Brute?"
* "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"
* "Greek to me"

Related|

* Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar
* Assassination of Julius Caesar
* Caesar's Comet
* Ides of March
* Battle of Philippi
* Me and Orson Welles (2008)
* Caesar Must Die (2012)

* Category

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