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.
It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in la|[[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.
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:
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:
The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"); Dekker's "Greek to him" is rare.
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 | Translation | Target language / meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | It's Double Dutch. | Double Dutch (Tutnese) | |||
| That's Greek to me. | Greek | ||||
| Chicken scratch. | illegible writing | ||||
| Albanian | Mos fol kinezce. | Do not speak Chinese. | Chinese | ||
| Afrikaans | Dis Grieks vir my. | It's Greek to me. | Greek | ||
| Ancient Greek | Αὐτὸ ἐστὶ σηρικὸν περὶ ἐμοί. | [au̯ˌto esˌti sɛːriˌkon peˌri eˈmoi̯] | It's Chinese to me. | Chinese | |
| Arabic | يتحدث باللغة الصينية | yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah aṣ-Ṣīnīyah pronounced as /ar/ | He's speaking Chinese. | Chinese The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms. | |
| Arabic, Syrian Colloquial | يحكي كرشوني | yaḥki Karšūni pronounced as /ar/ | 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 | byatkallam bel-hendi pronounced as /arz/ | He's speaking Hindi. | Hindi The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms. | |
| Asturian | Suename chinu Ta'n chinu. | It sounds like Chinese to me. It's in Chinese. | Chinese | ||
| Bulgarian | Все едно ми говориш на патагонски. | Vse edno mi govoriš na patagonski. pronounced as /be/ | It's as if you're talking in Patagonian. | "Patagonian" (not a real language) | |
| Cantonese | 鬼畫符 / 鬼画符 | gwai2 waak6 fu4 pronounced as /yue/ | 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 | fo2 sing1 waa6 pronounced as /yue/ | Martian | |||
| Catalan | Com si diguessis Llúcia | pronounced as /ca/ | As if you say Lucy; not referring to a language | ||
| Cebuano | Linatin | Latin | Latin, a language used in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners. | ||
| Ininsik | Chinese | Chinese | |||
| Chavacano | Aleman ese comigo. | It's German to me. | German | ||
| Croatian | To su za mene španska sela. | pronounced as /sh/ | These are to me the Spanish countryside. | Spanish | |
| Czech | To je pro mě španělská vesnice. | pronounced as /cs/ | This is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish | |
| Danish | Det rene volapyk. | pronounced as /da/ | This is pure Volapük | Volapük, a 19th century constructed language | |
| Det er en by i Rusland. | This is a town in Russia. | Russian | |||
| Kaudervælsk | Romansh | Romansh, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in Switzerland | |||
| Dutch | Dat is Chinees voor mij. | pronounced as /nl/[4] | That is Chinese to me. | Chinese | |
| Ik snap er geen jota van. | I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to .[5] | Greek | |||
| Esperanto | Tio estas volapukaĵo. | pronounced as /[ˈtio ˈestas volapuˈkaʒo]/ | It's all Volapük. | Volapük, a 19th century constructed language | |
| Estonian | See on mulle hiina keel. | This is Chinese to me. | Chinese | ||
| Filipino | Parang Intsik | It looks like Chinese. | Chinese | ||
| Finnish | Täyttä hepreaa. | pronounced as /fi/ | It's all Hebrew. | Hebrew | |
| Sounds like pig's German | gibberish | ||||
| harakanvarpaita (refers to undecipherable writing) | Magpie's toes | unintelligible writing (gibberish) | |||
| French | C'est du chinois. C'est de l'hébreu. C'est du russe. | [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. | That sounds like Spanish to me. (usually meant to indicate something is fishy) | Spanish | ||
| Spreche ich Chinesisch? | Am I speaking Chinese? | Chinese | |||
| Fachchinesisch | specialty Chinese (meaning technical jargon) | Chinese | |||
| Kauderwelsch | Mediterranean Lingua Franca | ||||
| Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich | pronounced as /de/ | These are Bohemian villages to me | Czech, Bohemia being a region of the neighbouring Czech Republic that is nearest to Germany. | ||
| All I understand is "train station." | |||||
| Polnisch rückwärts | Polish [spoken] in reverse | Polish | |||
| Greek, Standard Modern | Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα. | pronounced as /el/ | This strikes me as Chinese | Chinese | |
| Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα. | pronounced as /el/ | These seem to me gobbledygook. | "Alaburnese" (similar to gibberish) | ||
| Greek, Cypriot | Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς; | pronounced as /[e‿ˈⁿduɾ̥t͡ʃi̞kɐ p̬u mi↗ˈlɐs]/ | Are you speaking Turkish? | Turkish | |
| Hebrew | זה סינית בשבילי | pronounced as /he/ | It's Chinese to me! | Chinese | |
| Hindi,Urdu | क्या मैं फ़ारसी बोल रहा हूँ? کیا میں فارسی بول رہا ہوں؟ | Kyā maĩ fārsī bol rahā hū̃? | Am I speaking Persian? | Persian | |
| Hungarian | Ez nekem kínai. | pronounced as /hu/ | It's Chinese to me. | Chinese | |
| Icelandic | Þetta kemur mér spánskt fyrir sjónir. | This looks like Spanish to me. | Spanish | ||
| Indonesian | (Tulisan) Cakar ayam | Chicken feet | gibberish Refers to unreadable writing. | ||
| Bahasa planet | (Other-)planet language | alien language | |||
| Italian | Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto/turco/cinese | pronounced as /it/, pronounced as /it/, pronounced as /it/, pronounced as /it/, pronounced as /it/ | This is Arabic/Aramaic/Ostrogoth/Turkish/Chinese to me | Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth, Turkish, Chinese | |
| Japanese | 珍紛漢紛 | Chinpun kanpun pronounced as /ja/ | "Ching chong" | formal speech Refers to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible Chinese loanwords. | |
| Javanese | ꦕꦺꦏꦺꦂꦥꦶꦛꦶꦏ꧀ | pronounced as /jv/ | Chicken scratch | illegible handwriting | |
| ꦧꦱꦮꦭꦺꦴꦟ꧀ꦝ | pronounced as /jv/ | Dutch language | Dutch | ||
| Korean | 횡설수설하고 있다 | Hoengseolsuseolhago itta | They are speaking horizontally and vertically. | gibberish, especially for unrecognizable spoken language or incoherence. | |
| 괴발개발 (refers to unreadable writing) | Goebalgaebal | Cat's footprints and dog's footprints | gibberish | ||
| 아무 말이나 한다 | Amu marina handa | They are speaking out random words. | gibberish | ||
| 외계어를 한다 | Oegyeeoreul handa | They are speaking in an alien language. | alien language | ||
| 개소리를 한다 | Gaesorireul handa | They are making a dog's sound. | gibberish | ||
| Latin | Graecum est; nōn legitur | pronounced as /la/ | [It] is Greek; [it is] not legible/[it is] illegible | Greek | |
| Latvian | Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece | pronounced as /lv/ | This is Chinese alphabet book to me | Chinese | |
| Lithuanian | Tai man kaip kinų kalba. | pronounced as /lt/ | 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. | Za mene toa e špansko selo. pronounced as /mk/ | It is for me a Spanish village. | Spanish | |
| Malay | (Tulisan) Cakar ayam | Chicken feet | gibberish Refers to unreadable writing. | ||
| Mandarin | 天書/ 天书。 | Kànqǐlái xiàng tiān shū pronounced as /cmn/ | 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 | Zhè shì guǐhuàfú ma? pronounced as /cmn/ | ghost-drawn marks | "ghost language" Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting. | ||
| 鳥語。/ 鸟语 | Niǎo Yǔ pronounced as /cmn/ | bird language. | "bird language" (bird song) Refers to incomprehensible speech. | ||
| 火星文 | Huǒxīng wén pronounced as /cmn/ | 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. | pronounced as /[dat kymt miː spoːnʃ føɐ]/ | That seems like Spanish to me. | Spanish | |
| Norwegian | Det er helt gresk for meg. | It's complete Greek to me | Greek | ||
| Persian | مگه ترکی حرف میزنم؟ | pronounced as /fa/ | Am I speaking Turkish? | Turkish | |
| Polish | To dla mnie chińszczyzna. | pronounced as /pl/ | To me it's Chinese | Chinese | |
| Siedzieć jak na tureckim kazaniu | pronounced as /pl/ | Sit as in a Turkish sermon | Turkish | ||
| Czeski film | pronounced as /pl/ | 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. | pronounced as /pt/ | This is Chinese to me | Chinese (Portugal) | |
| Isto para mim é grego. | pronounced as /pt/ | This is Greek to me | Greek (Portugal) | ||
| Proto-Germanic |
| [θɑt ˈis.ti ˈwɑlxis.kɔ̃ː/ˈwiniðiskɔ̃ː ˈɸuri mek] | It's Proto-Italic/Proto-Slavic for me. | Proto-Italic, Proto-Slavic | |
| Proto-Slavic |
| [tɔ ɛstɪ nɛːmɪt͡ʃɪskʊjɪ/ʋɔlʃɪskʊjɪ dɛːʎɑː mɛ̃ː] | It's Proto-Germanic/Proto-Italic for me. | Proto-Germanic, Proto-Italic | |
| Romanian | Parcă e chineză. | pronounced as /ro/ | It's like Chinese. | Chinese | |
| Ești turc? | pronounced as /ro/ | Are you Turkish? | Turkish | ||
| Nu înțeleg o iotă. | [nu ɨnˈt͡se.leɡ o jo.tə] | I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to . | Greek | ||
| Russian | Это для меня китайская грамота. | Eto dlja menjá kitájskaja grámota. pronounced as /ru/ | 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. | 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. | pronounced as /sh/ | These are to me a Spanish village. | Spanish | |
| К'о да кинески причаш. K'o da kineski pričaš. | Like speaking in Chinese | Chinese | |||
| Slovak | To je pre mňa španielska dedina. | pronounced as /cs/ | That is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish | |
| Slovene | To mi je španska vas | pronounced as /sl/ | That is a Spanish village to me. | Spanish | |
| Spanish | Está en chino/arameo/ruso. Me suena a chino/arameo/ruso. | pronounced as /es/, pronounced as /es/ pronounced as /es/, pronounced as /es/ | This is in Chinese/Aramaic/Russian. It sounds like Chinese/Aramaic/Russian to me. | Chinese, Aramaic, Russian | |
| No entiendo ni jota | pronounced as /es/ | I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.[8] | Greek | ||
| Swedish | Det är rena grekiskan. | pronounced as /sv/ | It's pure Greek | Greek | |
| Turkish | Konuya Fransız kaldım.[9] | pronounced as /tr/ | 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] | pronounced as /tr/ | 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. | Tse dlja mene kitajs'ka gramota. pronounced as /uk/ | That's Chinese writing to me. | Chinese | |
| Venetian | Par mi xe turco. | pronounced as /vec/ | To me this is Turkish. | Turkish | |
| Vietnamese | Nhìn/nghe như tiếng Miên. | (It) looks/sounds like Khmer | Khmer | ||
| Yiddish | תּרגום־לשון טערקיש אָץ־קוצץ־לשון מלאָכים־לשון חרטמים־לשון | 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 |