Curse in Ancient Greek

Of course, my characters in the Miriam bat Isaac Mystery Series occasionally use profanity, and if they’re Greek, they swear in ancient Greek. Some of their expletives are too profane for me to translate, but some are mild, like Ma Zeus, meaning “Oh, Lord!”

In The Deadliest Deceptions, a collection of nine stories, characters utter Ma Zeus eight times. In one story, “The Dagger,” a murderer is having trouble disposing of his dagger:

The skin of the canal was blistered with debris and blotched with oily stains. What if the dagger just floats on the scum? Icy sweat drilled down my spine. I paused for a group of walnut-colored ragamuffins to scamper by, and then holding my breath, I hurled it into the filth.

And waited.

It lay there on an island of froth.

Ma Zeus! Why won’t it sink?

In The Deadliest Returns, characters utter Ma Zeus only four times, but this collection consists of only three novelettes. In the first story, “The Bodyguard,” Miriam’s brother bumps into someone from years ago he’d rather not encounter:

“Ma Zeus, I know him! Underneath that receding cap of silver curls is the moth-eaten version of Gershon ben Israel, aglitter with gems, reeking from verbena, and draped in a gaudy silk robe.”

Considering what these characters were up against, Ma Zeus was a mild curse indeed. Like them, save your most vulgar obscenities for when you really need them, and if you’re in polite company, say them in ancient Greek. To learn a few more, click here and here.