Σιγά τα λάχανα

Literally: Easy with the cabbages!

Example: “Πήρε καινούριο κινητό; Σιγά τα λάχανα!” — He got a new phone? Big deal!

English equivalent: Big deal

Origin: Two rival theories compete, and neither is confirmed. Writer Takis Natsoulis traces it to a specific pre-1821 village incident: an Ottoman bey's tax collector arrived to gather the customary tithe, and the villagers, hoping to avoid paying, insisted their vegetable harvest had gone completely unsold that year — the phrase supposedly preserving that transparent, unconvincing excuse. A second, considerably older theory reaches instead for ancient Greek comic oath-taking: "μὰ τὰς κράμβας" (by the cabbages), a deliberately absurd, non-serious substitute for swearing by a god, used specifically to signal that whatever was being said shouldn't be taken too seriously. Either way, the modern phrase keeps the same core function — dismissing something as far less significant or impressive than it's being made out to be.