It's Greek to me: Why is the language of 'The Odyssey' shorthand for all that we don’t understand?
1214. This week, we look at why we say, "It's all Greek to me" when we don't understand something. We trace the phrase from medieval monks who couldn't read Greek manuscripts to Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and look at how other languages, like Czech, German, and Cantonese, express the same idea of incomprehension.
The Greek segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.
A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.