22 Comments
Is this something you can say in Greece? Sounds rude in English.
Yes, it does, doesn't it. It might, just might, be used in Greek, with the right intonation. It's not quite as rude as it is in English, but it's not the optimal choice in Greek either. I laughed when I first saw it but at that point, the sentences had been locked and couldn't be changed.
It's not something you really say in Greece, it is as rude as in English, and would probably get a moutza for saying that, if you were serious and not just fooling around.
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I never heard this phrase in my life!
Instead of this: Καληνύχτα κυρία (μου), formal and polite, Καληνύχτα μωρή, VERY rude to a woman, or simply, Καληνύχτα κυρία (first or last name), formal, or just Καληνύχτα (first name), or some others like "αγάπη μου", "κούκλα μου" etc, very intimate for lovers.
This phrase is quite weird. Better skip it, Greek team, if you can. It is useless.
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Generally speaking how one can salute somebody depends on the circumstance, the disposition, the intimacy etc.
A simple καληνύχτα or καληνύχτα σας (formal), but very rare, even never καληνύχτα σου is enough.
For women, when they say καληνύχτα it is not very seldom to hug each other, and between a man and a woman depending on the intimacy or just a simple handshake, that is not very often between two women.
About the vocative μωρέ (masc), μωρή (feminine), it is actually a rude way to call somebody. But it is usual in every day speech, between friends. Of course, never in a lecture :)
I don't know if the origin is the Greek word μωρός=idiot, foolish, or it comes from other Balkan language in the form ορέ or ωρέ, used in the period of Ottoman Empire and after in villages.
Even the famous word μαλάκας, it is very usual, specially among the youngsters, who are friends but not only, BUT never call somebody like this if you are not friends, it is a swear actually (=masturbator). If you hear it very frequently, it is because the friends do not mean it and use it as an appendix to the phrase, to call each other, even with intimacy, no, they aren't fighting :)
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why is the accent on the ι and not on the α?
αι ιs a diphthong. Two letters pronounced as one. So, "αι' is pronounced like "ay" in "say". The accent goes on the second of the two letters.
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Because then α and ι would be pronounced seperately and α would also be stressed - http://forvo.com/word/γάιδαρος/.
Occasionally you need to "break up" a dipthong while stressing neither vowel - http://forvo.com/search/αϋπνία/ - Shift + ; + y/i - ϊ ϋ.
Very rarely, you might want to put a stress on the second vowel - http://forvo.com/word/παΐδι/ - Shift + w + y/i - ΐ ΰ.
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"Evening" and "Night" in English are more or less synonyms. I think "Good evening, woman" should be a valid answer here. I already reported that.
"Good evening" is a greeting, whereas "good night" is a good-bye, no?
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I tried the translation "good night ma'am", but DL didn't take it. This English is a bit antique now, certainly rather formal, but I'm still wondering if it also may be suitable here.
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Your translation should be accepted. We would never say 'Goodnight woman' in English. Suggest it in the comments box under the question when it comes up again for revision.
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I expect that if the woman were well-known to you and the intonation or context were friendly, it might be possible to say this without being rude, even in English. In Greece, it's another cultural context, and it takes a Greek to say what's acceptable there.
Yes, as you will have seen if you had read the other comments here we are aware of this problem. This is one of the sentences that will be corrected in the new tree, we are unable to make changes in the Greek at this level.
If the woman is your friend and knows you are no sexist and that you just say that for fun and you are just fooling around, she may even answer in the same tone "Goodnight man!"=Καληνύχτα άντρα! Otherwise it's very rude and you will get some good swear words.
