Kalamari to you too!
On our first visit to Greece my wife and I were walking along a country track in Rhodes early one morning when we encountered an elderly local woman. Kalimera she said.Without hesitation, my wife replied kalamari.Surprised at the strange expression on the Greek woman's face my wife asked me what was wrong. 'You've just called her a squid', I replied.
Sent by: Bryan
Comments
I was trying hard to learn Greek so I could communicate with my Greek in-laws who spoke no English. One morning I prepared coffee and asked my father-in-law if he wanted gata (cat) with his milk!
I work in a Greek restaurant, we often have people coming in and saying kalamari to us, in the evening! A comment on the thelo farmakeio: depending on your pronunciation, it could have been taken to mean that you wanted poison/venom!
My grandmother did exactly the same thing in a restaurant earlier this year, and we almost ended up with a plate of squid with our meal.
I was trying to buy some medicine in Athens this summer. Because the pharmacist couldn't speak any English, I had to try to explain in Greek what I wanted. So I said Thelo farmakeio ..., I want the pharmacy ... Just from the look on man's face I could tell something was very wrong.
I remember being in Corfu on a family holiday and walking into a restaurant - my dad asked my younger brother (aged 11 at the time) to ask for 6 menus - he came back and said the waiter will bring them over - only the waiter came over with 6 bottles of Manos (local brand of beer) - at least the waiter saw the funny side and came straight over with 6 menus!!
Flag this comment