"Καλό μήνα σε όλους"

Greetings/Wishes on any day and any occasion are very customary in Greece. Everyday you will hear people exchanging pleasantries as common as ""γεία σας", "Τι κάνεις;", "Καλημέρα", "Είσαι καλα", "Μια Χαρά", "Καλό βράδυ", "Καληνύχτα", "Καλή χρονιά", sometimes done simultaneously with the traditional kisses on both cheeks, yes...even between men.

So, on this day, the first day of February (and every first day of each month), the locals will be greeting just about every single person they know and meet : "Καλό μήνα" (Kalo Mina), which literally means "good month". It is the Greek way of wishing their friends, family and kins a good month ahead of them, their way of wishing you well. Ain't that special?

Sunday is generally a boring day. It's the "no choice but stay at home" day, unless you go out for coffee or the movies.  Just about every establishments are closed on Sundays.  No stores, no shopping and no gym.  Greeks literally rest on their "first day" of the week.   Sundays are my domesticated days.  It's the day when I transform into a Martha Stewart clone.  I do laundry, iron clothes, clean the house, and sometimes cook food for the whole week.  It does sound a bit boring but its a routine I got used to even when I was in the military, so am practically oblivious to it (the routine, I mean).  

So, Martha...eat your hearts out because on Sundays, I take over.

WORTHLESS RAMBLING FOR THE DAY: The Greek language is not that really hard to learn. Try Russian, or Japanese, or Arabic! Now, those are hard. So, it doesn't really make sense to me when I hear some non-Greeks use the phrases "It sounds Greek to me" or "It's all Greek to me" to connote something weird, strange and incomprehensible. It is funny to note though that when Greeks are confronted with the same predicament, they say: "Είναι όλα κινέζικα για μένα" (Ine ola kinezika ya mena), which means "It's all Chinese to me". I've been to many countries and have had actual contacts with their locals, and believe me, there are other languages far and way harder to learn, speak, read, write and understand, and not to mention, awful and disgusting to hear, than Greek.  Greek is easier because it's very phonetic and the alphabet characters are easy to distinguish. You read and pronounce them as they are written. It also is a big factor if you spoke/knew a language other than English, for example, Spanish or German and even Pilipino/Tagalog, because it would be much easier for you to annunciate some distinct diphthongs, tones and stresses, and play with your lips, tongue and throat (ok, you perverts, get your brains out of the sexual gutter, I know you're grinning and I know what came through to your carnal minds when I said that!).  It all is just a matter of exposure, constant practice and usage, and the proverbial 3-Ds of learning: "drive, determination, and discipline".

Remember when you meet someone from a different country who speaks an entirely different language than yours, or visit a foreign country? What are the few first things you ask them or the locals? You ask them on how to say some of the most common word or phrases in their native tongue, most often than not, the bad words and phrases. You really want to know those phrases to either impress other people and to know when other people are cursing behind your backs or straight at your face! Because of your wanting to know (drive), and the need to know (determination), you learn and memorize those words and phrases by heart in a heartbeat (discipline) no matter how bad you annunciate them. So long as those words and/or phrases come out of your mouth (even with total disregard to accent, tone, stress and syntax)...,that's all that matters!

Greek 101: 

Simple Greetings (Pronunciations/Literal Meanings/Actual Meanings and Usage)

• Καλό μήνα σε όλους - it is pronounced "Kalo mina se olus", literally it means "Good month to you all". Individually, you say "Kalo Mina"and it is used to mean "I wish you a happy month (ahead)."

• γεία σας - pronounced "Yah Sas"  or Yah  Su (for informal use), comes from the phrase "Stin Ygeia Sas" meaning "To your health".  Simply saying "Geia" is also acceptable.  It is almost the same as the American version of "Hi" and "Hello", and can be used also as a bid/farewell remark to mean "goodbye", the same way "Aloha" and  "Shalom"  are used in Hawaii and by Jews respectively. 

• Τι κάνεις;-  is pronounced "Ti Kanis?", which literally means " What are you doing?" but is used to mean  "How are you doing?" , colloquially, it's like the American way saying "what's up!'

• Καλημέρα- is pronounced "Kalimera", which literally means "Good day".  It is used to mean " Good morning", and is generally used as a greeting between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m.  

• Είσαι καλα - is pronounced "Ise kala?", which literally means " Are you good", but is used to mean  "Are you OK?"   It''s usually said after "Yah Su" and "Ti kanis?". It can be used interchangeably with "Ola Kala?", which literally means " All good" .  By the way, the English expression "OK" actually came from the Greek words "Ola" and "Kala"

• Καλό βράδυ - is pronounced "Kalo Vradi" which means "Good Evening".  It is used  for greetings and for saying goodbye.  

• Καληνύχτα- is pronounced "Kalinikta". which literally means  "Good night".   It's a farewell wish.  

• Καλή χρονιά - pronounced "Kali Kronia", it literally means "Good Year" - It is used to greet locals on their name days, birthdays, and on New Year's Day. 
  

P.S.   If you would like to know more Greek words and phrases, including the "bad" and "not so good ones", email me or post your e-mail address below. :) ☟☟☟