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Corned beef (mairteoil shaillte) or corned pork (muiceoil shaillte) — cé acu is fearr leat? Posted by on Mar 15, 2018

(le Róislín) The more I read about “mairteoil shaillte” (corned beef), the more I end up reading about “muiceoil shaillte” (corned pork)! There seems to be endless debate as to whether “corned beef and cabbage” is actually Irish, or is it Irish-American?  Also, some people say that “muiceoil shaillte” is more traditionally Irish than “mairteoil…

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Irish Vocab Round-up for the “Corned Beef” (mairteoil shaillte) Blogpost Posted by on Mar 12, 2018

 (le Róislín) This blogpost is a follow-up to the recent post on “mairteoil shaillte agus cabáiste,” a typical St. Patrick’s Day dinner (dinnéar tipiciúil Lá Fhéile Pádraig) in America (nasc thíos) Today we’ll look at the words for various food items in the corned beef and cabbage dinner and how they are described.  We’ll pay…

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Cén fáth a dtugtar ‘corned beef’ ar mhairteoil shaillte muna bhfuil ‘corn’ ar bith i gceist? Agus cad a itheann tusa i gcomhair ‘St. Patrick’s Day’? Posted by on Mar 7, 2018

(le Róislín) Ever wonder why “corned beef” is called “corned beef” in English?  And since the English word “corned” is a bit obscure these days, what’s the Irish for “corned”?  Nothing to do with “arbhar” (corn, maize) or “grán” (corn, edible grain). Apparently, there are two possible origins for saying “corned.” 1). The salt (salann)…

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Cineálacha Eile Béar agus Cineálacha Eile Beár (More Irish Words for Types of Bears and Types of Bars) (Cuid/Pt. 2/2) Posted by on Feb 28, 2018

 (le Róislín) Áiseach, Himiléach, Meiriceánach, bán, donn, dubh, spadánta, spéaclach, oll-, agus gréine — these are some of the ways we can describe “béir” (bears).  In the previous blog (nasc thíos), we also grouped together the words caife, déirí, núdal, sailéad, ceapairí, sneaiceanna, sushi, and fíona — all of which can be used to describe…

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Cineálacha Béar agus Cineálacha Beár (Irish Words for Types of Bears and Types of Bars) (Cuid/Pt. 1/2) Posted by on Feb 28, 2018

(le Róislín) We recently looked at “Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBéar Bán” (International Polar Bear Day) celebrated every year on February 27th, and I hope that thinking about that day gave you some paws (ermm, oops, should be “pause”  – groan / duck) for thought about what is happening to “gnáthóg na mbéar bán” (the habitat…

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Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBéar Bán (International Polar Bear Day): 27 Feabhra — February 27th Posted by on Feb 27, 2018

(le Róislín) We recently referred to International Polar Bear Day in a list of féilte, feiseanna, and laethe speisialta in February (nasc thíos).  February 27th is International Polar Bear Day, and a straightforward translation of the phrase into Irish is “Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBéar Bán” (literally: International Day of the White, i.e. Polar Bears). We’re…

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How to Say ‘North Korea’ and ‘South Korea’ in Irish, and Some Other ‘North/South’ Combinations Posted by on Feb 21, 2018

 (le Róislín) The Irish for “Korea” is “Cóiré,” one of relatively few words in Irish that end in with a long “é.”  Of the few others, there are “finné” and “inné” but most of the rest are direct adaptations from either English (e.g. giúiré, libhré) or Greek (e.g.  Antaiginé, Circé) or other languages (e.g. bailé…

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