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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…
When is ‘hanging’ not based on ‘croch’ in Irish Posted by róislín on May 5, 2015
(le Róislín) Well, the flip side of our title would be, “When the word ‘croch‘ is used to indicate hanging in Irish.” So this blog will deal with a little of both, some typical phrases with “crochta” or “ar crochadh,” and some phrases that use “hanging” in English but completely different words in Irish. And…
Speaking of ‘galar na bó buile’ (‘mad cow disease’ in Irish) Posted by róislín on Apr 30, 2015
(le Róislín) In a recent blog post, we briefly discussed einceifileapaite spúinseach bhólachta, which is also known as ‘galar na bó buile‘ (nasc thíos). In other words, bovine spongiform encephalopathy aka mad cow disease. It’s a bit of a mouthful in Irish as it is in English, so why don’t we take a closer look…
If ‘brón’ can be ‘orm’ in Irish phrases like ‘TBO,’ what else can be ‘ort’? Posted by róislín on Apr 28, 2015
(le Róislín) A few posts ago, we looked at the Irish abbreviation ‘TBO‘ for “Tá brón orm” (nasc thíos). This might be a good time to look at how to say that some other emotions, feelings (like hunger or thirst), or illnesses are “on you” (ort) in Irish. How does this compare to English? In…
A Little More on “Croch” (hang) and “Crochtacht” (steepness) in Irish Posted by róislín on Apr 25, 2015
(le Róislín) Some of you may have read the recent blog on the mysterious and apparently misprinted word in some recent editions of An Béal Bocht (The Poor Mouth), a hilarious satirical novel by “Myles na gCopaleen” (aka Flann O’Brien aka Brian Ó Nualláin aka Brian O’Nolan). So what was that word again–“*corchtacht” [sic]? You…
Mistéir an Fhrása ‘ó chorchtacht’ [sic] in ‘An Béal Bocht’ — Réitithe (An Irish typo — solved) Posted by róislín on Apr 20, 2015
(le Róislín) When I first read the delightful Irish satirical classic, An Béal Bocht, (The Poor Mouth), one phrase that puzzled me was “… i bpriacal do mharfa ó chorchtacht na tíre” (p. 14). Literally, it would mean, “… in danger of being killed from the “corchtacht” [sic] of the land.” The official translation gives “from…