Greek to me

That's Greek to me or it's 'Greek to me' is an idiom in English referring to material that the speaker finds difficult or impossible to understand. It is commonly used in reference to a complex or imprecise verbal or written expression, that may use unfamiliar jargon, dialect, or symbols. The metaphor refers to the Greek language, which is unfamiliar to most English speakers, and additionally uses a largely dissimilar alphabet.

Origins

It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in . The phrase is widely believed to have its origins among medieval scribes. While most scribes were familiar with Latin, few people in medieval Western Europe, even among the intellectual classes, were schooled in Greek. When copying classic manuscripts they would frequently encounter passages and quotations in Greek which they would have no way of translating, and as such would note the phrase in the margins.
Recorded usage of the metaphor in English traces back to the early modern period. It appears in 1599 in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, as spoken by Servilius Casca to Cassius Longinus|Cassius] after a festival in which Caesar was offered a crown:
Here, Casca's literal ignorance of Greek is the source of the phrase, using its common meaning to play on the uncertainty among the conspirators about Cicero's attitude to Caesar's increasingly regal behaviour.
Shakespeare was not the only author of this period to use the expression. It was also used in 1603 by Thomas Dekker in his play Patient Grissel:
The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker ; Dekker's "Greek to him" is rare.

Variations

Other languages have similar formulations, some referring to Greek but many referring to foreign languages such as Chinese or Spanish. Many refer to a language with a different alphabet or writing system.
This is an example of the usage of demonyms in relation to the ability of a people to be understood, comparable to the development of the words barbarian, Nemec.
In an article published by Arnold L. Rosenberg in the language journal Lingvisticæ Investigationes, he claimed that there was a popular "consensus" that Chinese was the "hardest" language, since various non-English languages most frequently used the Chinese language in their equivalent expression to the English idiom "it's all Greek to me". David Moser of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies reached a similar conclusion.

Language	Phrase	Pronunciation	Translation	Target language / meaning
English	It's Double Dutch.			-
English	That's Greek to me.			Greek
English	Chicken scratch.			illegible writing
Albanian	Mos fol kinezce.		Do not speak Chinese.	Chinese
Afrikaans	Dis Grieks vir my.		It's Greek to me.	Greek
Arabic	يتحدث باللغة الصينية	yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah aṣ-Ṣīnīyah	He's speaking Chinese.	Chinese The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Syrian Colloquial	يحكي كرشوني	yaḥki Karšūni	He's speaking Syriac.	Syriac, using the Garshuni script as a reference to it. The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Arabic, Egyptian Colloquial	بيتكلم بالهندي	byatkallam bel-hendi	He's speaking Hindi.	Hindi The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms.
Asturian	Suename chinu Ta'n chinu.		It sounds like Chinese to me. It's in Chinese.	Chinese
Bulgarian	Все едно ми говориш на патагонски.	Vse edno mi govoriš na patagonski.	It's as if you're talking in Patagonian.	"Patagonian"
Cantonese	鬼畫符 / 鬼画符	gwai2 waak6 fu4	Ghost script?	No specific set phrase, treated like any ordinary language, eg. "Is this ghost script?" "Is this written in Martian?"
Cantonese	火星話 / 火星话	fo2 sing1 waa6	Martian	No specific set phrase, treated like any ordinary language, eg. "Is this ghost script?" "Is this written in Martian?"
Catalan	Com si diguessis Llúcia		As if you say Lucy; not referring to a language
Cebuano	Linatin		Latin	Latin, a language used in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners.
Cebuano	Ininsik		Chinese	Chinese
Chavacano	Aleman ese comigo.		It's German to me.	German
Croatian	To su za mene španska sela.		"like a Spanish village".	Spanish
Czech	To je pro mě španělská vesnice.		This is a Spanish village to me.	Spanish
Danish	Det rene volapyk.		This is pure Volapük	Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Danish	Det er en by i Rusland.		This is a town in Russia.	Russian
Danish	Kaudervælsk		Romansh	Romansh, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in Switzerland
Dutch	Dat is Chinees voor mij.		That is Chinese to me.	Chinese
Dutch	Ik snap er geen jota van.		I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.	Greek
Esperanto	Tio estas volapukaĵo.		It's all Volapük.	Volapük, a 19th century constructed language
Estonian	See on mulle hiina keel.		This is Chinese to me.	Chinese
Filipino	Parang Intsik		It looks like Chinese.	Chinese
Finnish	Täyttä hepreaa.		It's all Hebrew.	Hebrew
Finnish	Kuulostaa siansaksalta		Sounds like pig's German	gibberish
Finnish	harakanvarpaita		Magpie's toes	unintelligible writing
French	C'est du chinois. C'est de l'hébreu C'est du javanais. C'est du russe.		It's Chinese. It's Hebrew. It's Javanese. It's Russian.	Chinese Hebrew Javanese Russian
German	Das kommt mir spanisch vor.		That sounds like Spanish to me.	Spanish
German	Spreche ich Chinesisch?		Am I speaking Chinese?	Chinese
German	Fachchinesisch		specialty Chinese	Chinese
German	Kauderwelsch		Consisting of "kauder" and "welsch". The exact meaning of "kauder" is unclear, there are different explanations: from a verb meaning "to trade". The whole compound would then refer to the language spoken by Italian traders. a corruption of Kauer, the Tyrolean form of Chur, therefore the Romance language of Chur. from an Early Modern German word for tow. Kauderwelsch would then pejoratively refer to Italian tow traders. Any of the explanations above would've been reinforced by the Upper German verb "kudern, kaudern" for "speaking unintelligible".	Italian or Rhaeto-Romance.
German	Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich		These are Bohemian villages to me	Czech, Bohemia being a region of the neighbouring Czech Republic that is nearest to Germany.
German	Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof		All I understand is "train station."
German	Polnisch rückwärts		Polish in reverse	Polish
Greek, Standard Modern	Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα.		This strikes me as Chinese	Chinese
Greek, Standard Modern	Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα.		These seem to me gobbledygook.	"Alaburnese"
Greek, Cypriot	Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς;		Are you speaking Turkish?	Turkish
Hebrew	זה סינית בשבילי		It's Chinese to me!	Chinese
Hindi, Urdu	क्या मैं फ़ारसी बोल रहा हूँ? کیا میں فارسی بول رہا ہوں؟	Kyā maĩ fārsī bol rahā hū̃?	Am I speaking Persian?	Persian
Hungarian	Ez nekem kínai.		It's Chinese to me.	Chinese
Icelandic	Þetta kemur mér spánskt fyrir sjónir.		This looks like Spanish to me.	Spanish
Indonesian	Cakar ayam		Chicken feet	gibberish Refers to unreadable writing.
Indonesian	Bahasa planet		planet language	alien language
Italian	Questo per me è arabo/aramaico/ostrogoto/turco/cinese	,,,,	This is Arabic/Aramaic/Ostrogoth/Turkish/Chinese to me	Arabic, Aramaic, Ostrogoth, Turkish, Chinese
Japanese	珍紛漢紛ちんぷんかんぷん	Chinpun kanpun	"Ching chong"	formal speech Refers to the "Chinese" sound of incomprehensible Chinese loanwords.
Javanese	ꦕꦺꦏꦺꦂꦥꦶꦛꦶꦏ꧀		Chicken scratch	illegible handwriting
Javanese	ꦧꦱꦮꦭꦺꦴꦟ꧀ꦝ		Dutch language	Dutch
Korean	횡설수설하고 있다	Hoengseolsuseolhago itta	They are speaking horizontally and vertically.	gibberish, especially for unrecognizable spoken language or incoherence.
Korean	괴발개발	Goebalgaebal	Cat's footprints and dog's footprints	gibberish
Korean	아무 말이나 한다	Amu marina handa	They are speaking out random words.	gibberish
Korean	외계어를 한다	Oegyeeoreul handa	They are speaking in an alien language.	alien language
Korean	개소리를 한다	Gaesorireul handa	They are making a dog's sound.	gibberish
Latin	Graecum est; nōn legitur		is Greek; not legible/ illegible	Greek
Latvian	Tā man ir ķīniešu ābece		This is Chinese alphabet book to me	Chinese
Lithuanian	Tai man kaip kinų kalba.		It's Chinese to me	Chinese
Lithuanian	Paukščių kalba.		Bird's language	gibberish
Lojban	ti itku'ile ga'a mi		It's Ithkuil to me	Ithkuil
Macedonian	За мене тоа е шпанско село.	Za mene toa e špansko selo.	It is for me a Spanish village.	Spanish
Malay	Cakar ayam		Chicken feet	gibberish Refers to unreadable writing.
Mandarin	天書/ 天书。	Kànqǐlái xiàng tiān shū	Looks like a book from Heaven	"Heaven's language" Refers to an unknown writing system, or incomprehensible content, cf. A Book from the Sky.
Mandarin	鬼畫符 / 鬼画符	Zhè shì guǐhuàfú ma?	ghost-drawn marks	"ghost language" Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
Mandarin	鳥語。/ 鸟语	Niǎo Yǔ	bird language.	"bird language" Refers to incomprehensible speech.
Mandarin	火星文	Huǒxīng wén	Martian writing	"Martian" Usually refers to comically unconventional writing, but is also often used in the same context of unintelligible words or text.
Marathi	मी हिब्रू बोलतो का?	Mī hibrū bōlatō kā	Am I speaking Hebrew?	Hebrew
Low Saxon	Dat kümmt mi spaansch vör.		That seems like Spanish to me.	Spanish
Norwegian	Det er helt gresk for meg.		It's complete Greek to me	Greek
Persian	مگه ترکی حرف میزنم؟		Am I speaking Turkish?	Turkish
Polish	To dla mnie chińszczyzna.		To me it's Chinese	Chinese
Polish	Siedzieć jak na tureckim kazaniu		Sit as in a Turkish sermon	Turkish
Polish	Czeski film		Czech movie	Czech
Portuguese	Isto para mim é chinês.		This is Chinese to me	Chinese
Portuguese	Isto para mim é grego.		This is Greek to me	Greek
Romanian	Parcă e chineză.		It's like Chinese.	Chinese
Romanian	Ești turc?		Are you Turkish?	Turkish
Romanian	Nu înțeleg o iotă.		I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.	Greek
Russian	Это для меня китайская грамота.	Eto dlja menjá kitájskaja grámota.	That's Chinese writing to me.	Chinese, but emphasis is put on reading rather than speaking. The phrase is often applied when not understanding branches of knowledge like chemistry, maths or computing due to lack of familiarity.
Russian	Как курица лапой.		Like chicken feet.	gibberish Refers to very poor, incomprehensible handwriting.
Serbian	То су за мене шпанска села. To su za mene španska sela.		These are to me a Spanish village.	Spanish
Serbian	К'о да кинески причаш. K'o da kineski pričaš.		Like speaking in Chinese	Chinese
Slovak	To je pre mňa španielska dedina.		That is a Spanish village to me.	Spanish
Slovene	To mi je španska vas		That is a Spanish village to me.	Spanish
Spanish	Está en chino/arameo/ruso. Me suena a chino/arameo/ruso.	, ,	This is in Chinese/Aramaic/Russian. It sounds like Chinese/Aramaic/Russian to me.	Chinese, Aramaic, Russian
Spanish	No entiendo ni jota		I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18.	Greek
Swedish	Det är rena grekiskan Det låter som/det är rena rama grekiskan.	-	It is pure Greek It sound like/it is pure Greek.	Greek
Swedish	inte ett jota		one iota of it Reference to Matthew 5:18.	Greek
Turkish	Konuya Fransız kaldım.		I am French to the topic.	French, as from the viewpoint of a French person who doesn't understand any Turkish.
Turkish	Anladıysam Arap olayım.		let me blacken, get dark skin if I understood it	None
Ukrainian	Це для мене китайська грамота.	Tse dlja mene kitajs'ka gramota.	That's Chinese writing to me.	Chinese
Venetian	Par mi xe turco.		To me this is Turkish.	Turkish
Vietnamese	Nhìn/nghe như tiếng Miên.		looks/sounds like Khmer	Khmer
Yiddish	תּרגום־לשון טערקיש אָץ־קוצץ־לשון מלאָכים־לשון חרטמים־לשון	targem-loshn terkish ots-koytsets-loshn malokhim-loshn khartumim-loshn	targum language Turkish gibberish the language of angels the language of a pharaoh's magicians	Aramaic / Turkish / gibberish / angelic language / Hieroglyphics