HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''More'', ''re'', and ''bre'' (with many variants) are
interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling, situation or reaction. It is a diverse category, with many different types, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curses (''da ...
s and/or vocative particles common to Albanian, Greek, Romanian, South Slavic ( Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Macedonian), Turkish, Venetian and Ukrainian. According to Eric Hamp, its "locus... smore in the Greek world than elsewhere". It is used in
colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...
speech to gain someone's attention, add emphasis, insult, or express surprise or astonishment, similar to the Argentine vocable of unknown origin, " Che."


Etymology

* Albanian: ** ''more'', ''morë'', ''ore'', ''mar'', ''mre'', ''moj'', ''mana'', ''mori'' are Albanian vocative particles.
Vladimir Orel Vladimir Emmanuilovich Oryol (; 9 February 1952 – 5 August 2007) was a Russian linguistics, linguist, professor, and etymology, etymologist. Biography At the Moscow State University he studied theoretical linguistics (1971) and structural li ...
and Bardhyl Demiraj connect the Albanian vocative particles with the
aorist Aorist ( ; abbreviated ) verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the ...
form of ''marr'' (“I took; received”). Which derived from  Proto-Albanian ''*mar(en)-'', from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
 ''*merh₂-'' (“to pack (up)”) or PIE ''*(s)mer-'' (“to assign, allot”).
Cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''μείρομαι/meíromai'' (“receive as one's portion”),
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''mereō'', ''merx'' and Hittite ''mark'' (“to divide a sacrifice”).Albanische Etymologien (Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz), Bardhyl Demiraj, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 7; Amsterdam - Atlanta 1997 ** ''Bij'', ''bi'', ''bre'', ''be'' are short forms of ''bijë/bilë'' (“daughter, girl”) and ''bir'' (“son, boy”). Phonetically and semantically close to Messapic ''*bilia'' (“daughter”) and ''*biles'' (“son”).A Concise Historical Grammar of the Albanian Language, V.Orel, Koninklijke Brill, Leiden 2000, p. 26 Bre derived from the PIE root ''*bʰréh₂'' or ''*bʰrḗh₂'' (both possible roots for ''*bʰréh₂tēr'', “brother”). It is suspected that the root could have wider meanings in PIE and used to refer to non-relatives (such as "kinsman", "comrade").James Clackson, ''Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction'', page 200 (2007, )J. P. Mallory, D. Q. Adams, ''The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European'' (2006, ), page 214 * Greek: ** from the vocative ''moré'' (μωρέ) of the Greek adjective ''morós'' (μωρός) "foolish, stupid"; related to
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''mōrus'' "foolish, silly"; derived from the
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
root mûra, maura "dull, stupid".


Variants

* , , , , , ( Arbëresh), , (feminine) / , , , , , (masculine) / , (masculine/neutral) * (), (), (), () * (), (), (), () (feminine), (), (), () (dialectal) * (to get attention), (archaic, expressing surprise) * Macedonian and
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
: / , / , / * * (), () * ,


Greek

Like "hey!" re can be used as an exclamation, often used to get attention or express surprise, and so it corresponds in some ways to exclamations such as "wow!". Its original pejorative meaning of 'fool, idiot' is largely lost and it is now used to mean "friend", and thus corresponds in some ways to expressions such as "mate", "pal", "man", "dude". As in the above English examples, ''re'' may be used both before or after a phrase: "Ρε, αυτή είναι καλή μπύρα" ("Hey, this is some good beer"), or, "Πάμε για καμια μπύρα, ρε" ("Let's go get a beer, man"). However, it is familiar, so it is not used to older people or to strangers, when it can be considered offensive. The feminine version, mori, preserves the original pejorative sense regardless of context when used by males, but it is used in familiar context when used among women or in gay slang. In Cyprus, it is common to address either a sister, female cousin, or female friend as "ra", as opposed to re. When used with loud voice, or with commands, it sounds rude or offensive "Stand up, re" → "You, stand up now!" However, if followed by ''sy'' ("you") or the addressee's name it is considered milder, and friendly (e.g., "Stand up, re George" > "Stand up, my friend George"). Of course the above is not always standard since everything depends on the context and the intonation. It is very common for Greeks raised in Greece but living abroad (especially in the UK) to use ''re'' semi-jokingly when speaking English in the same way they use it when they speak Greek (e.g., ''"Are you serious re?", "How are you re Jim?" '') Similarly, Greek
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
s will use it along with the interjection man! as in ''"Re man"''. In the Greek American community of Tarpon Springs, Florida, a variation of the word is used with the same meaning. Instead of the term re, with the rolling of the "r" being said, the Greeks there say "ray", with no rolling of the "r". "Ray" is thus said as in typical English. "Ray, lets go to the Sponge Docks," or "What's up, Ray?" is how the term is used locally. This is common only in Tarpon Springs, and the usage of the term is often mocked by Greek Americans throughout the country.


"Re gamoto"

In Greece and
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
''re'' is often accompanied by a slang word or a
profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ...
, such as ''gamoto'' or ''gamoti'' (''γαμώτο'' or ''γαμώτη''), meaning ''
fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...
!'', an exclamation of fury, surprise or admiration that is considered vulgar. In 1992, in her first statement to the Greek journalists minutes after the 100 m hurdles race at the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Voula Patoulidou, the surprise winner, dedicated her medal to her home country by saying "Για την Ελλάδα, ρε γαμώτο" (''Gia ten Ellada, re gamoto!'' "''For Greece, goddamit!''"), a catchphrase that is still in use; it became emblematic in Greece, and was used and paraphrased in various occasions by the Greek
mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...
, satirists, Greek
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
gers, and ordinary people.


See also

* * Che ( Argentinian Spanish) - the Spanish interjection of similar meaning and usage, famous as the nickname of Ernesto "Che" Guevara. * Malakas


References

{{Reflist, 2 Interjections Slang Greek language Serbian language Turkish language Venetian language Sprachbund Culture in the Balkans Balkan sprachbund