Greek Travel Tip - Don't Call Grandma A Squid

Practice helps

Greeks welcome outsiders who try and speak a few words of Greek. But unfortunately, many Greeks suffer from facial cramping as they try so hard not to laugh at this common tourist error. Please do what you can to help prevent this disorder.

The greeting most tourists learn - or think they've learned - is "Kalimera", which means "Good morning".

Unfortunately, what they often say, based on vague memories of a seafood meal bursting forth at just the wrong moment, is "Calamari", meaning octopus. In Italian.

Unfortunately, since natural politeness makes everyone tend to greet the elderly with more care and respect, that means that many a black-clad yia-yia (Greek for grandmother) starts her day in tourist season by being repeatedly called a writhing multi-tentacled sea creature, in the wrong language to boot. And all they do is smile and say "Kalimera" to you - with perhaps a little more emphasis than usual.

Kah-lee-mare-uh. Kah-lee-mare-uh. Kah-lee-mare-uh. That's better!