Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all and may the luck of the Irish be with you!

Today, Saint Patrick’s Day, is a holiday celebrated in various ways around the world, such as with parades, wearing the color green, and drinking beer! As you may know the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday originates in the country of Ireland. Because today is St. Patrick’s Day I thought we would take a closer look at the English speaking country of Ireland, to honor this holiday. If you want to learn more about the holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day in general, take a look at this post I wrote a few years ago.

 About Ireland:

Ireland is an island nation within the British Isles. Ireland is divided into two parts: the “Republic of Ireland” and “Northern Ireland.” Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland is not. The population of the whole of Ireland is close to 5 million people, with the majority of people living in the Republic of Ireland. Although Ireland is an English-speaking country, there is another major language spoken in this country. This other major language is Gaelic. The Gaelic language was spoken in Ireland long before English, as far back as the 1st century AD. Although English is now the primary language of Ireland, a number of Gaelic words have been incorporated into the English language over time. Take a look at these five English words, which have their origin in Gaelic.

 Gaelic vocabulary in English:

 bother (n) – effort; difficulty

Example: It is always such a bother to clean the kitchen after we have a party.

 galore (adj.) – plentiful; in abundance

There were flowers galore growing in the field this year.

 phony (adj.) – not real; counterfeit; not genuine

Example: The phony van Gogh painting was easily spotted.

slob (n) – an unclean and generally lazy person

Example: My brother is a real slob; he never cleans his house and hasn’t had a job in years.

 trousers (n) – clothing worn on the legs that cover both legs fully; pants

Example: I packed both shorts and trousers for my vacation since I wasn’t sure what the weather would be like.

 Irish idioms:

The Gaelic language and culture have influenced Ireland in many ways, including some of the proverbs (or idioms) that the Irish now commonly use. Here I’ve selected five idioms that have their origin in Gaelic, but are now regularly spoken in English in Ireland.

“Marry a woman from Truagh and you marry all Truagh*.”

Meaning: When you enter into a relationship with, or marry, someone, you are entering into a relationship with not just that person, but also their friends, family, and community.

*Truagh is the name of a town in Ireland.

“There are many ways of killing a pig other than by choking it with butter.”

Meaning: There is more than one way to do everything. There are both obvious and less obvious ways to solve a problem.

“The well fed person doesn’t understand the hungry one.”

Meaning: People can’t truly understand something until they have experienced it. We understand through experience.

“There’s no hearth* like your own hearth.”

Meaning: Another English expression that means the same thing as this one is “There’s no place like home.” Both of these phrases express that we are most comfortable in our own homes and in familiar surroundings.

*hearth = fireplace

“Time is a good story teller.”

Meaning: Over time stories often become exaggerated, and so they become better stories, with more details and embellishments.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all! I hope you celebrate by using some of this English vocabulary that comes to us from the native Irish language of Gaelic.

Some information from this post was sourced from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/saint-patricks-day-irish-words_b_4966766.html