Greek figs and the English language

Wise Word: sycophant

Being married to a Greek certainly has its advantages. It means, for example, that I get to spend my summer holidays on a beautiful Greek island. It also has one huge disadvantage: the language.

I’m not talking about trying to speak Greek — I can do that well enough; I’m talking about the annoying habit that Greek people (including my husband) have of telling me how just about every word in the English language has a Greek origin. It annoys me because it’s not true — but it annoys me most of all because it often is true.

Like most families, we have our fair share of arguments on holiday. They’re unavoidable as you end up spending more time with people you’ve managed to avoid most of the year. However, this year I was surprised at one of the arguments we had over breakfast. It was about language and figs.

A couple of figs for a sycophant?

“You use the word 'sycophant' in English, don’t you? Well it comes from Greek and means 'informer,' I was told. (My husband only said this with such authority as he was reading it from a Greek newspaper.)

“It doesn’t mean ‘informer’,” I answer.

“Of course it does. ‘Suko’ means ‘fig’ and ‘phainein’ means ‘show’.”

“So what?"

"Someone who showed — or informed on — people who were trying to sell figs when it was illegal in Athens were known as sukophantes. Today, it means 'informers'."

"But it doesn't in English. A sycophant isn’t an informer, he's a flatterer, but in a bad way. It’s someone who flatters someone else in order to gain an advantage. A sycophant is a yes-man or a brown-noser.”

“You’re wrong!”

“No, you’re wrong!”

Guess what? We were both right.

According to the Greek newspaper Oiko, the word was coined to describe people who used to inform on people who were selling figs in Athens when it was illegal to do so. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English (which I just happened to have with me) this word only had this meaning in the 16th century in the English language. English likes to adopt new words and then give them a meaning that we think is more appropriate or that suits our needs. As an informer is often someone who only informs on someone else in order gain a personal advantage, the word gradually came to mean something more: “a servile flatterer”.

Now, I just have to remember that in Greek, “sycophant” only has the original meaning of “informer”. I can’t see myself needing that very often.

By the way, the Oxford Dictionary of English also writes that the origin of the word "informer against the illegal exportation of figs from Athens" is not substantiated. Should I write to the Greek newspaper? If I do, my husband says he’ll write to the linguists at Oxford.

“This coffee is delicious,” my husband commented.

“You’re such a sycophant,” I smiled. 

Just as the Greeks insist there is a "real meaning" to the Greek words that we use in English, the English insist that Germans use English wrongly, too. On reflection, I think we should complain less about this phenomenon (another word that comes from the Greek, phanein) and accept that every culture uses the language in its own unique way. Germans can adopt English words and give them new meanings, if they want. I particularly like these examples of Denglish: “Handy”, “Oldtimer” and the most recent one, “public viewing”.

As I really am on holiday, my next blog post will be on 24 August. I hope you have a good summer too.