Not many people are aware that
Soup to Nuts, the first feature starring the Three Stooges, was based on a comedy by Aristophanes. This lost play, commonly known as
The Idiots, is set in the temple of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, and instead of the familiar Larry, Curly, and Moe, follows the antics of three protagonists named Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. In adapting this classic for a modern audience, you’d assume they’d have focussed on the physical humour, but in fact much of the language translated surprising well, including, and perhaps most importantly, Gamma’s signature phrase: “Why, iota!”
Let me be the first . . . *groan*
ReplyDeletehey, is "idiot" of Greek origin? b/c sounding out the title with my leftover mathematician's Greek, I get something like _lithioi for the 2nd word.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Webster's, it is; but I got my translation here: http://translate.google.com/#el|en|ηλίθιοι
ReplyDeleteWhere you can click on a button and hear it pronounced.
I spend way too much time last night looking for a stooge-like word that actually began with an iota, but settled on the modern Greek word for idiot, never thinking to actually look up the etymology of the word idiot. So whereas this story was once called ηλίθιοι it is now called ἰδιώτηι.
ReplyDeleteNeat translator. Am planning to mutter eeleethee next time I stub my toe.
ReplyDeleteΜελτέμι: The bay was full of sheep, and on approach we pitched and rolled past scraggly bushes and walls of piled rocks before slamming safely onto the runway, to genuine relieved applause. We walked down the roll-up stairs, past the engines, but soon realized that the hot blast on our faces wasn’t the jet-wash. It howled all day for six days straight, blowing sand in our eyes, closing waterfront patios, and making the helmetless rides on our underpowered rental scooter a frightening challenge. It finally let up on our last day, and we got some nice pictures of the ancient windmills.
ReplyDeletePosted to ABC Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteAn IDIOTIC post. In a good way...
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC Wednesday team
INTERESTING! I learned something new
ReplyDeleteWhat ARE you guys talking about?
ReplyDeleteIntriguing! and Idiotic! LOL
ReplyDeleteLeslie
abcw team
I love the Three Stooges!! Great take on the "I".
ReplyDeleteAnn