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Sayings
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The proverbs and other idiomatic expressions of Cypriots reflect the wit and stoicism of a people who have struggled for centuries to eke out a meagre agrarian existence while enduring the serial foreign occupation of their homeland. The Cypriot Academy has collected a good number of these wonderfully evocative sayings.
Proverbs, known as barimies, are a central facet of Cypriot culture, familiar also to expatriate Cypriots around the world. Barimies are the time-honoured cautionary wisdom of the elders, passed down from generation to generation in the form of pithy, often metaphorical statements. It is sometimes said of a particularly apt proverb, as a reminder to the young of the importance of the underlying message: ‘I balii enistefkan j’ elalusan da’ (The ancients fasted to say these things).
Some Cypriot proverbs owe their origin to real events, such as the fate of Haji-Markos, a renowned baker who ran out of coal and couldn’t bake. Others arise from verses in Cypriot chatista, a traditional off-the-cuff poetic repartee practised in the villages of Cyprus.
The frustrations and harshness of past Cypriot existence are especially apparent in the colourful idiomatic expressions. There is a splendid range of cursing, while several expressions of good wishes, such as ‘Na su zisi do moron su’ (May your child live for you) and ‘Hronia bolla’ (Many years), speak of a time when life was often cut tragically short, by hunger or sickness, if not slaughter by invaders.
The proverbs and expressions in our collections are presented in the original Cypriot vernacular, the rich, expressive language of Cyprus. They are written using the Latin alphabet in the style developed by the Cypriot Academy.
In each case there is an accompanying English translation representing our best efforts to capture the original Cypriot shade of meaning. For the proverbs, we had intended to attempt further explanation by way of paraphrasing. However we concluded that this would have detracted from the enigmatic and multifaceted qualities of the originals. The proverbs are thus left to stand by themselves, meaning what they say, yet meaning so much more.
Our version of each saying does not necessarily represent the only or definitive form and we may have got some wrong. There are also no doubt many wise or poignant Cypriot sayings that we have missed out. Please contact us if you spot any errors or have any sayings you feel ought to be included in future updates.
Proverbs
Expressions
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