Timeo Danaos

For nearly a century the French dictionary Larousse (a sort of Gallic Webster's) defined "Greek" as meaning, among other things, roue, fripon, escroc--1) rakehell, 2) swindler, 3) crook. For nearly a century the Greek government has bombarded the Quai d'Orsay with complaints, to no avail. That, said Larousse stiffly, is the way Frenchmen talk, and that is the way they must be reported.

Last week Larousse relented. Bowled over by the Attic charms of a new Greek cultural attache in Paris, the publishers announced that grec in their forthcoming centenary edition would be defined solely as an inhabitant of Greece or that which pertains to Greece. "In these matters," said Attache George Averoff, "official notes are no use. I got to know Larousse's publisher. I got to know his wife. We had dinner--and the matter was fixed."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.