Archive for November, 2010
“Iar-“ (after-, western, etc.) agus “Siar” (westwards. back in time, etc.) Posted by róislín on Nov 13, 2010
(le Róislín) Last blog we looked at some uses of the prefix “iar-“ in compound words like “iarsholas,” “iarscoláire,” “iarbháis,” “iarmhír,” and “iarleann.” The prefix “iar-“ is related to the Irish adverb “siar,” for which some basic meanings are “west(wards),” “back,” and “back in time.” So “iar-“ can pertain to geography (“west” or “western”) as…
Iar-, Iar, Iar dTír, Iarbhír, Iarmhír, and Other Afterthoughts on “After” Posted by róislín on Nov 8, 2010
Now that Samhain is over, and we’ve taken a brief but timely detour to cover words like “shellacking,” “drubbing,” and “leathering” (greadadh, broicneáil, leadradh, srl.), due to torthaí an toghcháin sna Stáit Aontaithe, we’re back on track with our “before” and “after” series. We’re probably in for the long haul here, since there are so…
Cén Ghaeilge Atá ar “To Take a Shellacking”? Posted by róislín on Nov 4, 2010
It’s fascinating to me when 1930s slang shows up in today’s political headlines, as happened recently with President Obama’s now famous use of the phrase “to take a shellacking.” Even more fascinating to me, as you may have guessed, is to ponder how this might be expressed in Irish. It’s a two-part investigation. First, we’ll…