Yes, but Shakespeare is believed to have been the first to use the
phrase in print. Technology (having the advantage of wider distribution
by means of printed text) contributed to Shakespeare's place in the
English language today, as a playwright and as a contributor to the
English language itself.
Anand
P.S. More here :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indo-euro-americo-asian_list/message/136
--- In [email protected], Biju Chacko <biju.chacko@...> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 12:19 AM, Anand Manikutty
> manikuttyanand@... wrote:
> > The example of the phrase "It is/was (all) Greek to me" would
sufficiently
> > make my point. The phrase is from Julius Caesar. (A little bit of
Googling
> > revealed the section of the play from which the phrase arose.) What
Casca
> > was saying was that he didn't understand what Cicero said because
Cicero
> > spoke Greek and Casca did not. Somehow, this entered the English
language as
> > implying that that the Greek language itself is somehow hard to
learn.
>
> When I read Julius Caesar in high school, the Cliff notes indicated
> that "It's greek to me" was an established phrase in Shakespeare's
> time, so he was actually punning on that phrase when he wrote the
> line.
>
> -- b
>
