Harry

Kavnas

Another interesting word coined by the Cypriots which my father was perplexed back in the 50s in the UK.

Do you understand what we mean by the word “Guv” that English people use?

Two explanations below.
Guv, Typically used by the people of the United Kingdom, but mainly that of the Country of England. It is a shortened version of the slang term Guv'ner which is often used to refer to a male of either authority or out of respect for said male. It's definition is Sir.

The term 'guv' or 'governor' is most commonly used for a reason by manual tradespeople, to denote the person paying their bill, or the person who orders and accepts their work, to distinguish from the tenant, the property's legal owner, and so on. The governor is the person who they are answerable to.

My father was looking for accommodation and a friend said: Prepei na miliso me ton “kavna” mou. Obviously he was referring to the landlord but my father was really suspect of the phrase…

So the Guv’ner became kavnas