An unfortunate discovery was recently made during one of the many trips we took to the local hardware store on Aegina.
Usually we pay in cash but this time we used our credit card which had our name on it. Our new friend Spilos, who runs the store, looked down at the name on Mark’s card and his eyes widened. He only knew our first names up until now.
He looked down and said,
“skýlos??? You are skýlos-man?”
We returned his wide eyed stare.
He continued. “Did you know skýlos means dog? Your name means ‘dog man’. Then he gave us an impish grin and stifled a laugh.
So there you have it. We’re running around Greece with the last name Skillman which means skýlos-man—σκύλος—dog man.
…on a positive note there is a very naughty dog in our marina and he recently took a long line of rope I had just soaked and cleaned and drug it all over the yard and got it caked with grime and blue anti-fouling. And now at least I know how to point my finger and wag it at him and say, “skýlos!!”
This also works when Mark gets in trouble. So thanks to our friend Spilos we have learned a somewhat tragic yet very helpful Greek language lesson.
POST NOTE:
Our good friend Sarah and her son Owen messaged us on our instagram to tell us that Dog Man is a book series about an heroic dog–so perhaps things aren’t so tragic.
Owen got a good chuckle out of Mark’s new nickname. Skýlos may be a dog man here in Greece, but to at least one cool kid back in the states gives Mark a little hero credit!