Which alphabet is this?
April 11, 2016 8:06 AM Subscribe
Two of my friends sent a card that they picked out at our local bodega for my birthday. We had a great laugh and now we're obsessed with figuring out the message. But we can't decipher the alphabet! Help?
Perhaps it's Greek but if it is I cannot understand the translation...help me hive mind!
Perhaps it's Greek but if it is I cannot understand the translation...help me hive mind!
Here's what Google says:
Υζεια και χαρα
Για σημερα
Και καδε ημερα
Στην ζιορτη σου
//
Health and happiness
For today
And every day
In your celebration
posted by harperpitt at 8:13 AM on April 11, 2016 [8 favorites]
Υζεια και χαρα
Για σημερα
Και καδε ημερα
Στην ζιορτη σου
//
Health and happiness
For today
And every day
In your celebration
posted by harperpitt at 8:13 AM on April 11, 2016 [8 favorites]
Wait! No it doesn't! Google actually autocorrected me to this original text:
Υγεια και χαρα
Για σημερα
Και καθε μερα
Στην γιορτη
So maybe it's just that, like you, I can't figure out the original cursive-y Greek. I just got luckier with The Goog.
posted by harperpitt at 8:16 AM on April 11, 2016
Υγεια και χαρα
Για σημερα
Και καθε μερα
Στην γιορτη
So maybe it's just that, like you, I can't figure out the original cursive-y Greek. I just got luckier with The Goog.
posted by harperpitt at 8:16 AM on April 11, 2016
harperpitt beat me, but that's what I got via OCR + Google Translate as well. I work with a native Greek speaker so if this gets super controversial I can call in the ringer ;)
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:16 AM on April 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:16 AM on April 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: harperpitt's Google Translate version is fine except that the last line is off; it should read:
Health and happiness
For today
And every day—
Happy birthday!
(The last line could equally well read "Happy name-day," since the Greek word covers both, but name-days aren't really a thing in most English-speaking countries. And I added the dash to make it clear that it's not a single sentence/thought.)
Once again, I'll remind people that if you don't know a language, it's fine to just wait for someone who does to come along rather than jump in anyway. And if it's already clear that it's Greek, you're not really adding anything by saying "Yup, it's Greek!"
posted by languagehat at 8:37 AM on April 11, 2016 [31 favorites]
Health and happiness
For today
And every day—
Happy birthday!
(The last line could equally well read "Happy name-day," since the Greek word covers both, but name-days aren't really a thing in most English-speaking countries. And I added the dash to make it clear that it's not a single sentence/thought.)
Once again, I'll remind people that if you don't know a language, it's fine to just wait for someone who does to come along rather than jump in anyway. And if it's already clear that it's Greek, you're not really adding anything by saying "Yup, it's Greek!"
posted by languagehat at 8:37 AM on April 11, 2016 [31 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Dragonness at 8:11 AM on April 11, 2016 [2 favorites]