We would like to thank Hellenic Words for this article, we truly enjoyed it.
My telephone rang. The voice coming from the other side was cheerful and enthusiastic: ¨Éla re maláka! Kaló Pásha!¨ he wished me. Hold on a second..
Isn't ¨maláka¨ supposed to be a curse word?
Well, the answer is yes.
At least this is what almost everybody knows.
Almost.
The word ¨maláka¨ has gain huge recognition worldwide, owning it´s popularity to the Greek diaspora that immigrated and settled in Great Britain, Australia, Germany and of-course US, while the greek population in the country has promoted the term into Hellas´s national word to the tourists that visit the country. To realize the dimensions the word has taken, is enough to think, that at the regions of Munich, Melbourne and New York´s Astoria in the United States the words is actually used by the Germans, Australians and American respectively!
So the question is, ¨Is the term maláka an international word?¨
Under this criteria the answer is yes.
There is almost no man on the western word that haven't heard the word´ and I say haven't heard and not doesn't know, simply because they do not know actually the meaning of the term and it´s applications.
In the common modern Hellenic language the word ¨malákas¨ (gk. μαλάκας) means literally ¨masturbator¨ and the action is called ¨malakía¨ (gk. μαλακία) while the verb for it, is ¨malakízome¨ (gk. μαλακίζομαι). The word finds it´s root at ¨malthakós¨ (anc. gk. μαλθακός) which is ancient Hellenic for ¨soft¨, in the literal way, meaning soft in the character of the person`and that´s why in the ancient Hellenic world the term ¨malakía¨ had the meaning of coward, deserter, the person that runs away from the battle, or avoids it completely, under the logic that the persons that they were weak and not hard and strong as characters did such a thing. In time the word variate it´s meaning and from the Byzantine Era and on changed to masturbate as masturbation was and still is most common to the youth / teens, a period in the life of a man that he is ¨softer¨ as a person, concluding that the soft (person) masturbates.
From the Byzantine time to modern day Hellas the word has kept it´s literal meaning, but it´s additional alternations has grew into almost countless derivatives - all in an absolute negative manner. The interesting part is that in less than 5% of the occasions the word is being used with its "original meaning of masturbator" due to the social prejudice of the masturbation taboo in Hellas, so in the Hellenic ordinarity the word is being actually used in all it´s other variants.
The most common applications of both the noun and the adjective are in situations that show clumsiness, naivety, stupidity, being grumpy, difficult to get along with, or simply something not likeable by the person ¨honoured¨ with the word. Here is important to mention that the Greeks as an ethnical group, give huge importance to logic, reason, intelligence and criticize hardly all sayings and acts of their opposites` and that is exactly why the word has such popularity of usage in the Hellenic day-life.
To understand of what importance is the logic, reason and intelligence to the Hellenic world, is good enough to mention that the worst possible curse words or insults that someone can say and do to a Greek is to call him silly and/or stupid, or simply to doubt of his intelligence. This is an idiom to all Greeks since ancient times where the worst insults that could someone do would be to call someone ¨morón¨ (gk. μωρόν where also the english moron finds it´s root directly) or accuse him for ¨malakía¨ meaning that he is a coward for his counry, or -and perhaps the worst of all- call him a ¨Non-Greek¨ meaning brut, uncivilized, barbarian.
Here I will make a small parenthesis and mention that almost every Greek from ancient times to date, never had ethnical feelings to Hellas as country on it´s hole, but were and still are topicists (meaning that they love their city, state, region and only that) and most of the times accuse the rest as Non-Greeks when they dislike them. The other insult that is to date is the word ¨morón¨ where the modern term ¨Ré¨ comes from
as ¨morón¨ -> ¨moré¨ -> ¨mré¨ -> ¨ré¨ and has the same application as ¨malákas¨, meaning it´s negative.
(note: from the word ¨morón¨and it´s resulted ¨ré¨, all the Balkan countries as also the Turks has taken the term and still use it as bré, mré, vré etc.)
Now someone will rightfully wonder:
"If the word has such negative, almost despicable meanings, why do I have the impression that you Greeks use it almost... friendly?"
The answer is that the word the last three decades has been so overused that simply became an ordinary day-use word, especially on the big cities and among the youth. A such over-use of the word that has came up to actually be a greeting among the teens and who else uses it, both ré and malákas have came up to mean almost ¨hello¨.
e.g ¨éla ré maláka¨
Closest example to that is the greeting that the African-Americans have to each-other when they interact: ¨Yo Nigga¨ (english: Hello Nigger) something that is to be vulgar and racistic to use by anybody else, but acceptable among the African-Americans.
Here I will notice the importance of all Non-Greeks being careful to what they think is friendly to use. A greeting for example to an elder on any small village of Hellas, with the phrase "Yiá sú ré maláka¨ most probably is going to send you for a visit to your dentist to replace the missing teeth" while in less possible situations (see: Crete or Mani) you can get shot or stubbed.
If the same though takes place in Athens or the other major Hellenic cities, most probably is gonna cause the laugh to the Greek that you will say it to and he is probably going to treat you more friendly and welcoming (not because he will appreciate your friendly efforts, but because he will automatically consider you as an idiot and silly tourist that says stupid things, just like if someone would go to Japan and start saying all the time "Sayonara" to everybody for no reason).
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