Greek to me

That's Greek to me or It's (all) Greek to me is an idiom/dead metaphor in English, expressing that something is beyond comprehension. The idiom is typically used with respect to the foreign nature, complexity or imprecision of verbal or written expression or diagram. Often containing excessive use of jargon , dialect, mathematics, science, symbols, or diagrams. The metaphor makes reference to Greek (either ancient or modern), as an archetypal foreign form of communication both written and spoken.

Origins

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"). This phrase was increasingly used by monk scribes in the Middle Ages, as knowledge of the Greek alphabet and language was dwindling among those who were copying manuscripts in monastic libraries.

The usage of the metaphor in English traces back to early modern times, and is first 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.

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

It was also used in 1616 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 to use the expression.

Another meaning attributed to the phrase implies that "it's all Greek to me" could be seen as a wordplay for: "everything is Greek for me"[3].

Variations

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 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), Nemecky (Slavic for "one who is not understood", indicating Germans).

In other languages

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". Also, David Moser of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies made the same claim as Arnold L. Rosenberg.

Language	Phrase	Pronunciation	"target" language/ meaning
English	It's Double Dutch.	/ɪts ˈdʌbəl ˈdʌtʃ/	Dutch, Tutnese
English	That's Greek to me.	/ðæts ˈɡriːk tuː ˈmiː/	Greek
Albanian	Mos fol kinezce.		Chinese
Afrikaans	Dis Grieks vir my.	[dis xriks fir mai]	Greek
Arabic	.يتحدث باللغة الصينية	Yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah al-Ṣīnīyah [jataˈħadːaθ bilˈluɣa(t) asˤːiːˈniːja]	Chinese
Arabic	.يحكي كرشوني	Yaḥkī Karšūnī [jaħkiː karʃuːniː]	Garshuni
Asturian	Suename chinu / Ta'n chinu.		Chinese
Bulgarian	Все едно ми говориш на китайски.	Vse edno mi govoriš na kitajski. [fse edˈnɔ mi ɡɔˈvɔriʃ na kiˈtajski]	Chinese
Catalan	Això està en xinès.	[əˈʃɔ sˈta n ʃiˈnɛs]	Chinese
Cebuano	Ching chong ching chang ching. / Nag-inintsik		Gibberish, referring to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible talking. / Speaking Chinese
Cebuano	Nilatin		Latin, language in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners.
Chavacano	Aleman ese comigo.		German
Mandarin	看起來像天書。/看起来像天书	[kʰan˥˩ tɕʰi˨˩ lai̯˧˥ ɕjɑŋ˥˩ tʰjɛn˥ ʂu˥]	"Book from Heaven" (Referring to an unknown writing system, or god's language)
Mandarin	這是甲骨文嗎？/这是甲骨文吗？	Zhè shì jiǎgǔwén ma?	Oracle bone script "Is this written in oracle bone script?" (Referring to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.)
Mandarin	聽起來像鳥語。/ 听起来像鸟语	[tʰiŋ˥ tɕʰi˨˩ lai̯˧˥ ɕjɑŋ˥˩ njɑʊ̯˧˥ y˩˧]	"Sounds/tongue of the Birds" (Unknown phonology system.)
Mandarin	聽起來像火星話。/听起来像火星话	[tʰiŋ˥ tɕʰi˨˩ lai̯˧˥ ɕjɑŋ˥˩ xwɔ˨˩ ɕiŋ˥ xwa˥˩]	Martian language "Sounds like Mars language".
Cantonese	呢啲喺雞腸嚟呀。	[nɛː˥ tiː˥ hɐi˧˥ kɐi˥ tsʰœŋ˨˩ a˥]	English "These are 'chicken intestines'.", (referring to cursive English)
Croatian	To su za mene španska sela.	[tô su za měne ʃpǎːnska sêla]	Spanish
Czech	To je pro mě španělská vesnice.	[ˈto jɛ ˈpro mɲɛ ˈʃpaɲɛlskaː ˈvɛsɲɪtsɛ]	Spanish
Cypriot Greek	Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς ρε;	en turjika pu milas re	Turkish
Danish	Det rene volapyk.	[də ʁenə volapyk]	Volapük
Dutch	Dat is Chinees/Russisch voor mij.	[dat ɪs ʃineːs vɔr mɛi]	Chinese/Russian
Esperanto	Tio estas Volapukaĵo.	[ˈtio ˈestas ˈvolapuˈkaʒo]	Volapük
Estonian	See on mulle hiina keel.		Chinese
Finnish	Täyttä hepreaa.	[tæytːæ hepreɑː]	Hebrew
French	C'est du chinois.	[sɛ dy ʃinwa]	Chinese
German	Fachchinesisch.		technical chinese
German	Böhmische Dörfer	[ˈbøːmɪʃə ˈdœɐ̯fɐ]	Czech (Bohemian villages)
Greek	Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα.	[afˈta mu ˈfenode ciˈnezika]	Chinese
Greek	Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα.	[afˈta mu ˈfenonde alamburˈnezika]	Alaburnese (origin unknown)
Hebrew	זה סינית בשבילי	Zeh Sinit bishvili. [ze sinit biʃvili]	Chinese
Hungarian	Ez nekem kínai.	[ɛz ˈnɛkɛm ˈkiːnɒi]	Chinese
Icelandic	Mér kemur þetta spánskt fyrir sjónir.	[mjɛr ˈkɛmʏr ˈθɛtːa spau̯nsk ˈfɪrɪr ˈsjonɪr]	Spanish
Indonesian	Jangan pake bahasa Urdu dong.		Urdu
Italian	Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto	[ˈkwesto perˈme ɛ ˈarabo/araˈmaiko/ostroˈɡɔto]	Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth
Japanese	ちんぷんかんぷん	chin pun kan pun	Gibberish, referring to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible Chinese loanwords used by the scholarly élite
Latin	Graecum est; non legitur	[ˈɡrai̯kum est non ˈleɡitur]	Greek
Latvian	Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece	[taː man ir kiːnieʃu aːbetse]	Chinese
Lithuanian	Tai man kaip kinų kalba.	[taɪ mɐn kaɪp kinuˑ kɐlba]	Chinese
Macedonian	За мене тоа е шпанско село	Za mene toa e špansko selo [za mɛnɛ tɔa ɛ ʃpaŋskɔ sɛlɔ]	Spanish
Low Saxon	Dat kümmt mi spaansch vör.	[dat kymt miː spoːnʃ føɐ]	Spanish
Norwegian	Det er helt gresk for meg.		Greek
Persian	انگار ژاپنی حرف می زنه		Japanese
Polish	To dla mnie chińszczyzna.	[tɔ dla mɲe xʲiɲˈʂtʂɨzna]	Chinese
Portuguese	Isto é chinês para mim. (Portugal) Não entendo/falo (d)esse grego/hebraico/aramaico. (Brazil) Isso está em japonês? (Brazil)	[ˈiʃtw ɛ ʃiˈneʃ ˈpaɾɐ ˈmĩ] (Portugal) [nɐ̃w ĩˈtẽdw/ˈfalw (d)esi ˈgɾegu/eˈbɾajku/ɐɾɐˈmajku] (Brazil) [ˈisw isˈta ĩ ʒɐpoˈnes] (Brazil)	Chinese (Portugal) Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Japanese (Brazil)
Romanian	Eşti turc? Ești tătar?	[jeʃtʲ ˈturk] [jeʃtʲ təˈtar]	Turkish Tatar
Russian	Это для меня китайская грамота.	Eto dlya menya kitaiskaya gramota. [ˈɛtə dlʲa mʲɪˈnʲa kʲɪˈtajskəjə ˈɡramətə]	Chinese
Serbian	То су за мене шпанска села. To su za mene španska sela.	[to su za mene ʃpanska sela]	Spanish
Serbian	К'о да кинески причаш. K'o da kineski pričaš.		Chinese
Sinhala	මටනං අණ්ඩර දෙමළ වගේ	matanaŋ andara demala wage	Telugu, Refers as Andhra (andara) Pradesh Tamil (demala)
Slovak	To je pre mňa španielska dedina.	[to je pre mɲa ʃpaɲielska ɟeɟina]	Spanish
Slovene	To mi je španska vas	[to mi je ʃpanska vas]	Spanish
Spanish	Está en chino/arameo. Me suena a chino/arameo.	[eˈsta en ˈtʃino]	Chinese, Aramaic
Swedish	Det är rena grekiskan.	[de æ reːnɑ ɡreːkɪskɑn]	Greek
Turkish	Konuya Fransız kaldım.	[konuja fɾansɯz kaɫˈdɯm]	French
Ukrainian	Це для мене китайська грамота.	Tse dlya mene kitas'ka gramota. [tsɛ dlʲɑ ˈmɛne kɪˈtɑjsʲkɑ ˈɦrɑmo̞tɑ]	Chinese
Urdu	فارسی لگ رہی ہے یہ	Farsi lag rahi hay yeh	Persian
Yiddish	ס'איז תּרגום־לשון צו מיר	S'iz Targum-loshn tsu mir. [sɪz tarɡumloʃn tsu miɐ]	Aramaic

Popular Use

Two books have been published to help beginning students of ancient Greek bearing the titles "Greek to me".
1. Greek To me, J. Lyle Story & Cullen I.k. Story, Xulon Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-59160-222-4. A humorous look at using memnonics to learn Biblical Greek.
2. It's Still Greek to Me: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Intermediate Greek, David Alan Black, Baker Academic, 1998, ISBN 978-0-8010-2181-7. Makes learning Greek easier by keying in on differences between Greek and English Grammar.

See also

• Greeking
• Writing system
• Gringo, a word possibly derived from the notion of Greek being unintelligible

External links

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