Audio: sounds like Greek to me
(Illustration: Henning Studte)
Nonsense which sounds like Greek, Chinese, Arabic, double Dutch and Spanish to Europe's citizens
If, during breakfast at home, an Italian were to ask us for burro while pointing to the butter, it would probably sound Chinese (me suena a Chino ) to us Spaniards.
This incomprehensible muddle sounds Chinese for the French (on dirait du chinois ) and the Greeks too, but Atabic for the Italians (Parlare arabo ).
Were an Englishman to hear the Greeks saying that something sounded Chinese, he would probably respond that to him in fact it really sounded like Greek to them, or double Dutch.
To top it all, if a Finn were to pass by and hear all this, he would settle the discussion by adding that everything the others were saying sounds Hebrew to him.
Rounding back up to us: to a German, this tower of babel would sound Spanish .
This article was fist published on cafebabel.com 14 August 2007, translation Claire Thorne
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