State of the Greek Language - Part 2

Since Crete, I have been collecting photographs of other examples of Romanized Greek words or English being used in applications only for locals. In addition to the exclusions from the last post of anything directly or even reasonably tangential to tourism, anything which is an imported good (e.g., the Parkiside Cross Cut Mitre Saw or Silver Crest Espresso machine sold at Lidl) and exclude Nafplio in general (like Athens) since it is clear that it is catering to the cruises.

So, in no particular order:


This one kind of says it all. There's Greek, English, and transliterated Greek. Kind of have to have ADHD to keep up with the information on this van. And just what exactly does Fargeo Hellas do? Waste management. Granted it is forward thinking in the reduction of waste to zero, and probably could (eventually) market its business solutions outside Greece, but then why brand just for the "Hellas" market. Otherwise, if it is a subsidiary, then clearly the intent was local, and therefore, no need for the English and transliteration when it is also clearly making an effort to use Greek words. It's just confusing.


Here's another one that can't decide what language, but seems to be appealing to a decidedly British speaking English market. And what are they offering? "Service"--Car repairs.

  Or graffiti?


I'll just put these next three here and let them speak for themselves...







I will also add a sub-rant about "How do I pronounce this?" With all the transliteration from the Greek alphabet to the Roman alphabet, sometimes, this is not obvious.

This one is from the ferry from Crete. Now, Crete and Heraklion are tourist destinations, and Minoan Lines was easily able to accommodate English, but these two spellings are not the same! In the bottom word, the "P" is clearly rho, but that "B" is a v-sound. Granted, the sign is cute, and intended for the English-speaking market with "self-service", but just sayin'.

Here's another one that leaves me scratching my head. The "s" at the end is clearly Roman alphabet, but I didn't know that starting the word, and would have read "rho", not "P". And then the "B" could go either way, although it is capitalized, so that makes me think it should be Greek? Anyway, it's not like I care about water that I would be ordering this brand, but it is indicative for the use of the Roman "s".  It is a slippery slope.

The P/Rho battle has been especially perplexing to me. Here, this shop using the English word "fashion", so how should I interpret the "p" in the name?  Or does it even matter at this point, since this shop is catering to tourists.  Is it a Greek designer, or just clothes one bought in Greece?


I could go on for days about this, and I suspect on our next trip, there will be even more English (or transliterated Greek).