That's Greek to me or it's (all) Greek to me is an idiom in English referring to material that the speaker finds difficult or impossible to understand. It is commonly used in reference to a complex or imprecise verbal or written expression, that may use unfamiliar jargon, dialect, or symbols. The metaphor refers to the Greek language, which is unfamiliar to most English speakers, and additionally uses a largely dissimilar alphabet.
Origins It may have been a direct translation of a similar phrase in ("it is Greek, [therefore] it cannot be read"). The phrase is widely believed to have its origins among medieval scribes. While most scribes were familiar with Latin, few people in medieval Western Europe, even among the intellectual classes, were schooled in Greek. When copying classic manuscripts they would frequently encounter passages and quotations in Greek which they would have no way of translating, and as such would note the phrase in the margins.
Recorded usage of the metaphor in English traces back to the early modern period. It appears in 1599 in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, as spoken by Servilius Casca to Cassius after a festival in which Caesar was offered a crown:
Here, Casca's literal ignorance of Greek is the source of the phrase, using its common meaning to play on the uncertainty among the conspirators about Cicero's attitude to Caesar's increasingly regal behaviour.
Shakespeare was not the only author of this period to use the expression. It was also used in 1603 by Thomas Dekker in his play Patient Grissel:
The expression is almost exclusively used with reference to the speaker (generally "Greek to me"); Dekker's "Greek to him" is rare.
Variations Other languages have similar formulations, some referring to Greek but many referring to foreign languages such as Chinese or Spanish. Many refer to a language with a different alphabet or writing system.
This is an example of the usage of demonyms in relation to the ability of a people to be understood, comparable to the development of the words barbarian (one who babbles), Nemec (Slavic for "the mute one," indicating Germans).
In an article published by Arnold L. Rosenberg in the language journal Lingvisticæ Investigationes, he claimed that there was a popular "consensus" that Chinese was the "hardest" language, since various non-English languages most frequently used the Chinese language in their equivalent expression to the English idiom "it's all Greek to me". David Moser of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies reached a similar conclusion.Moser, D. Pīnyīn.Info. Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard. Retrieved Jun 4, 2011, http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html
Language Phrase Pronunciation Translation Target language / meaning English It's Double Dutch. Dutch That's Greek to me. Greek Chicken scratch. illegible writing Albanian Mos fol kinezce. Do not speak Chinese. Chinese Afrikaans Dis Grieks vir my. It's Greek to me. Greek Arabic يتحدث باللغة الصينية yataḥaddaṯ bil-luġah aṣ-Ṣīnīyah He's speaking Chinese. ChineseThe verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms. Arabic, Syrian Colloquial يحكي كرشوني yaḥki Karšūni He's speaking Syriac. Syriac, using the Garshuni (Arabic) script as a reference to it.The verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms. Arabic, Egyptian Colloquial بيتكلم بالهندي byatkallam bel-hendi He's speaking Hindi. HindiThe verb in the example can be conjugated in other forms. Asturian Suename chinuTa'n chinu. It sounds like Chinese to me.It's in Chinese. Chinese Azerbaijani Erməni budaq cümləsi,Armenian subordinate clauseArmenian Bulgarian Все едно ми говориш на патагонски. Vse edno mi govoriš na patagonski. It's as if you're talking in Patagonian. "Patagonian" (not a real language) Cantonese 鬼畫符 / 鬼画符 gwai2 waak6 fu4 Ghost script? No specific set phrase, treated like any ordinary language, eg. "Is this ghost script?" "Is this written in Martian?" 火星話 / 火星话 fo2 sing1 waa6 Martian Catalan Com si diguessis Llúcia As if you say Lucy; not referring to a language Cebuano Linatin LatinLatin, a language used in rituals by holy men such as Catholic priests, faith healers, and talisman owners. Ininsik Chinese Chinese Chavacano Aleman ese comigo. It's German to me.German Croatian To su za mene španska sela. [This is] "like a Spanish village".Spanish Czech To je pro mě španělská vesnice. This is a Spanish village to me.SpanishDanish Det rene volapyk. This is pure Volapük Volapük, a 19th century constructed language Det er en by i Rusland. This is a town in Russia. RussianKaudervælskRomanshRomansh, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in Switzerland Dutch Dat is Chinees voor mij. In isolation, voor is pronounced . That is Chinese to me.Chinese Ik snap er geen jota van. I don't understand one iota of it. Reference to Matthew 5:18. Greek Esperanto Tio estas volapukaĵo. It's all Volapük. Volapük, a 19th century constructed language Estonian See on mulle hiina keel. This is Chinese to me.Chinese Filipino Parang Intsik It looks like Chinese. Chinese Finnish Täyttä hepreaa. It's all Hebrew. Hebrew Kuulostaa siansaksalta Sounds like pig's German gibberish harakanvarpaita (refers to undecipherable writing) Magpie's toes unintelligible writing (gibberish) French C'est du chinois.C'est de l'hébreuC'est du javanais.C'est du russe. [s‿ɛ dy ʃinwa][s‿ɛ də l‿ebʁø][s‿ɛ dy ʒavanɛ][s‿ɛ dy ʁys] It's Chinese.It's Hebrew.It's Javanese.It's Russian.ChineseHebrewJavaneseRussian German Das kommt mir spanisch vor. That sounds like Spanish to me. (usually meant to indicate something is fishy) Spanish Spreche ich Chinesisch? Am I speaking Chinese? Chinese Fachchinesisch specialty Chinese (meaning technical jargon) Chinese Kauderwelsch Consisting of "kauder" and "welsch". The exact meaning of "kauder" is unclear, there are different explanations: from a verb meaning "to trade". The whole compound would then refer to the language spoken by Italian traders. a corruption of Kauer, the Tyrolean form of Chur, therefore the Romance language of Chur. from an Early Modern German word for tow. Kauderwelsch would then pejoratively refer to Italian tow traders. Any of the explanations above would've been reinforced by the Upper German verb "kudern, kaudern" for "speaking unintelligible". Italian or Rhaeto-Romance. Das sind böhmische Dörfer für michKatja Grundmann, "Böhmische Dörfer", GEO (GEOlino). These are Bohemian villages to me Czech, Bohemia being a region of the neighbouring Czech Republic that is nearest to Germany. Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof All I understand is "train station." Polnisch rückwärts Polish [spoken] in reverse Polish Greek, Standard Modern Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα. This strikes me as Chinese Chinese Αυτά μου φαίνονται αλαμπουρνέζικα. These seem to me gobbledygook. "Alaburnese" (similar to gibberish) Greek, Cypriot Εν τούρτζικα που μιλάς; Are you speaking Turkish? TurkishHebrew זה סינית בשבילי It's Chinese to me! ChineseHindi, Urduक्या मैं फ़ारसी बोल रहा हूँ?