Archive for May, 2015
When Is ‘Strawberry Blonde’ Not ‘Strawberry’? When It’s ‘Fionnrua’ (An Introduction to Hair Color in Irish) Posted by róislín on May 31, 2015
(le Róislín) In the last blog post, we looked at the issue of redhead emojis, or the lack thereof. In the past, when we just had simple hand-typed emoticons or basic yellow smileys, hair color wasn’t so much of an issue. But now that we have a wide variety of choices for hair color and…
Emoji Rua? (Irish for ‘a red-haired emoji’) – ach an bhfuil siad ann? Posted by róislín on May 28, 2015
(le Róislín) This spring has seen a flurry of articles about the absence of red-haired emojis, especially now that more diversity than ever is available, with 5 or 6 types of skin tones (toin chnis) and numerous combinations with hair colors (dathanna gruaige). The 5 vs. 6 aspect is mostly thar scóp an bhlag…
Happy, Happiness and Happy Dances in Irish (mostly based on ‘áthas’) Posted by róislín on May 25, 2015
(le Róislín) “I’m just doing a little happy dance.” Recently overheard at an event I attended, where one of the coordinators had had to sit on the floor because all the seats were taken. At the end of the event, she got up, did some yoga-like stretches, and one of the other coordinators asked if…
Mothúcháin: Joy, Melancholy, Indifference, Astonishment and more, in Irish Posted by róislín on May 21, 2015
(le Róislín) In the last blog post, we looked at four emotions as shown in an early example of emoticons. They pre-date the English word “emoticon” by about a century, being from an 1881 issue of Puck magazine. Perhaps we should call them “proto-emoticons,” which in Irish could be either “prótastraoiseoga” or “luathstraoiseoga.” Either way…
Grins, Grimaces, and Emoticons: Straoiseanna and Straoiseoga in Irish Posted by róislín on May 18, 2015
(le Róislín) I was tickled pink (is there an emoji for that?) when I found out that the Irish language had its own word for “emoticon.” The word “straoiseog” [STREESH-ohg] isn’t based on either of the two words that make up “emoticon.” A classic portmanteau word, “emoticon” in English is quite transparently based on “emotion”…
If ‘straoiseog’ is ’emoticon,’ then what’s the Irish for ’emoji’? Posted by róislín on May 14, 2015
(le Róislín) Well, the short answer to the title question (“What’s the Irish for ’emoji’?), is pretty straightforward–there doesn’t seem to be an Irish word for “emoji.” Nothing surprising there, since many languages seem to have absorbed the Japanese word ’emoji’ as one of their own. Irish, on the other hand, has come up with…
So how does ‘#’ mean ‘sweetheart’ in Irish texting? Posted by róislín on May 10, 2015
(le Róislín) So how does ‘#’ mean ‘sweetheart’ in Irish texting? Well, it all depends on what you call the ‘#’ sign. And that may depend on where you live. In the U.S., it’s usually called the “pound sign” and the corresponding symbol on a telephone keypad is called the “pound key.” For certain touch-tone…