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A mountza or moutza (Greek: μούντζα or μούτζα) also called faskeloma (Greek: φασκέλωμα [faˈskeloma]) is the most traditional gesture of insult among Greeks. It consists of extending and spreading all fingers of the hand and presenting the palm towards the face of the person to be insulted with a forward motion.
"From a bad crow, a bad egg" I.e. like father, like son. Κακὸς ἀνὴρ μακρόβιος. Kakòs anḕr makróbios. "A bad man lives long." καλλίστῃ kallístēi "for the prettiest one", "to the most beautiful" From the myth of the Golden Apple of Discord. Diagoras of Rhodes carried in the stadium by his two sons
A corruption of the French word for Jewish, juif. Originating from the French argot Verlan. [55] Heeb, Hebe United States: Jews Derived from the word Hebrew. [56] [57] Hymie United States: Jews Derived from the Hebrew Chaim ('life'). Also used in the term Hymietown, a nickname for Brooklyn, New York, and as a first name. [58] Ikey, Ike United ...
The word dysphemism was composed from the Greek elements dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "speech, voice, reputation" in the late 19th century. [5] Related terms include malphemism (from the Latin malus "bad"), and cacophemism (from the Greek kakos κακός "bad").
The word "idiot" ultimately comes from the Greek noun ἰδιώτης idiōtēs 'a private person, individual' (as opposed to the state), 'a private citizen' (as opposed to someone with a political office), 'a common man', 'a person lacking professional skill, layman', later 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective ἴδιος idios 'personal' (not public, not shared).
The origins of these words go way back to the seventh or eighth century B.C.E, Beaulieu says, but the basic concepts are still relevant today and apply to the modern world.
I can’t say, ‘Oh don’t go there, there’s a bomb there, and there’s a guy over there, make sure you watch him and don’t get shot.’ You are praying that the decision you make is the right one, and if it is the wrong one – which a couple of decisions were the wrong ones – you are paying the price and you are living with it.
Euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemia (εὐφημία) which refers to the use of 'words of good omen'; it is a compound of eû (εὖ), meaning 'good, well', and phḗmē (φήμη), meaning 'prophetic speech; rumour, talk'. [3] Eupheme is a reference to the female