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‘Tá mé tinn’ and other ways to say “I’m ill” in Irish Posted by róislín on Oct 18, 2014
(le Róislín) Well, it’s not surprising that the English expression “to be under the weather” doesn’t translate literally into Irish. Most idioms don’t translate well from language to language. The closest equivalents can be found at the end of this blog. But what are the typical ways to say “I’m ill” in Irish or to…
‘In quarantine’ or ‘on quarantine’ — how to say it in Irish Posted by róislín on Oct 15, 2014
(le Róislín) In the recent blog on the Ebola virus (víreas Ebola), I referred briefly to saying “in quarantine” in Irish. It seems like a simple phrase to say, and the word for “quarantine” itself isn’t surprising — “coraintín” [KOR-antch-een], no relation to “aintín” as such! But it’s interesting to note the preposition that’s used…
How to say ‘Ebola,’ ‘Ebola Virus,’ and ‘Ebola Virus Disease’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Oct 10, 2014
(le Róislín) Not surprisingly, the word “Ebola” got an impressive 22,700,000 hits (22,700,000 amas), in my recent Google search. How many of those hits might be Irish-language resources? Since “Ebola,” as such, is exactly the same in Irish (Ebola), it’s not easy to search for results that are specifically in Irish. In fact, for many…
The Irish word for ‘October’ and other words related to ‘fómhar’ and ‘fómhair’ Posted by róislín on Oct 6, 2014
(le Róislín) In some previous blogs (naisc thíos), we’ve looked at the names of the months (míonna) and seasons (séasúir) in Irish, including a discussion specifically of “September” and “October.” So let’s try a little mixing and matching for review of “September,” “October,” and the Fall or Autumn season. Given the word “fómhar” and its…
‘Míor” + “cat” agus “suri” + “cata” = gleoiteacht! Posted by róislín on Sep 30, 2014
(le Róislín) I see that my previous cat blog (4 Mí na Nollag 2013) has been reposted (Cats Galore in Irish (Cait, Caitíní, Piscíní, Pisíní, srl.), so I thought this might be a good time to look at another “cat” word, “meerkat,” in Irish. And also to look into where the Latin taxonomical name, Suricata…
From ‘Stáit’ to ‘Stát’ and Back Again: Various Ways to Say ‘The United States of America’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Sep 26, 2014
(le Róislín) In the last blog, about the word “aontaithe,” (nasc thíos), we referred briefly to the various ways to say “the United States of America” in Irish. There are some subtle differences, depending on how the phrase is used. And of course, there are different phrases for specifically saying “the United States of America,”…
Looking at the ‘aon’ in ‘aontaithe’ (united) Posted by róislín on Sep 23, 2014
(le Róislín) Well, the Scottish Referendum has come and gone and I find myself wondering what will happen sa todhchaí (in the future). But meanwhile, it might be useful to look at the Irish word for “united,” since it shows up in many other phrases and terms, aside from “An Ríocht Aontaithe.” “Aontaithe” is based…