Critheagla (trepidation) orm, but I’ll undertake the topic anyway.  Cén fáth an chritheagla?  Dhá réasún:

 a)      na barúlacha polaraithe maidir le hÉirinn agus Corn an Domhain 2010

 b)      ní saineolaí spóirt mé ar chor ar bith

Cén fáth a bhfuil mé á dhéanamh mar sin?  (Why am I doing this then?)  Dhá réasún:

 a)      iarradh orm é a dhéanamh (I was asked to)

 b)      a lán téarmaí suimiúla a bhaineanns leis (lots of interesting words connected to it – neam! neam!)

Anyway, please don’t read this for an anailís úrscothach or a grinntuairisc.  An bhéim is mó a bheas san alt seo ná téarmaí (corn vs. craobh vs. “cupán,” srl.).  That’ll keep me on the safe side, in familiar territory, parsing the differences among related words.  At the end of this blog, I’ll offer some terms so you can discuss an chonspóid among yourselves, readers, should you so desire.  Just remember, please, is blag teaghlaigh é seo!

So, from someone who can barely keep her tréchleasa straight from her geaitíní lábacha, here’s me putting my best (but quaking) foot forward with some sports terminology.  

To start with, the Irish term for the World Cup: Corn (FIFA) an Domhain.  Two forms exist, one with “FIFA” kept as an abbreviation, which I think is a little clearer, and the other without “FIFA,” much like the English phrase “World Cup” doesn’t necessarily include “FIFA” either. 

corn, which also means “horn,” is the Irish word for “cup” as a prize.  So unlike English, which can use “cup” for sports or as a dish, the Irish “cupán” and “cupa” are limited to dishes or related terms, like “cupán cuinneoige” (the perforated cap of a churn-dash, which technically should be the loine, ach sin scéal eile, ).   

I mentioned “craobh” above as a related word.  It’s not part of World Cup terminology, fad m’eolais, but you will see it in discussion lots of sports competitions.  Normally it means “branch,” but it can also mean “championship,” presumably from the sense of laurels of distinction, which, druidically, seem to have been gold or silver branches or wreaths. 

“an domhain” here means “of the world” or “of the earth.”  The basic word for “world” is “domhan,” or should I say, one of the basic words for “world” is “domhan,” since there’s also “cruinne” and “saol,” ach sin ábhar blag eile.  Did you notice the change in spelling for “domhan” to make it mean “of the world” – it’s the insertion of the letter “i” before the final “-n,” marking our old friend, an tuiseal ginideach. 

An Comhaontas Idirnáisiúnta Sacair is the Irish for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, but I don’t see it used as an abbreviation in the Irish name for the event.  This breaks down into readily recognizable words: comh– (co-) + aontas (union, as in “an tAontas Eorpach”), idir- (inter-), náisiúnta (a linguistic giveaway), and sacair, the genitive case of “sacar.” 

As for Ireland’s situation this year, like I said, I’m no saineolaí in this regard, not by an “urchar fada,” but I can offer a few more choice tidbits of vocabulary for your pléisiúr díospóireachta:

fury, caor bhuile or dásacht feirge

scandal, scannal

goalkeeper, cúl báire

cheating, séiteireacht

cynical, searbhasach

blatant, follasach or brománta, the latter of which  can also mean “rude” or “boorish” or prone to gaofaireacht, or to put it more bluntly, bromaireacht (hmmm!)

and finally, here’s where I’m grateful to Irish to make distinctions that are ambiguous to me in English:

handball, the sport itself, is “liathróid láimhe,” logically enough, but “handball” as it pertains to soccer is “láimhseáil” (lit. “handling by hand”).  You might think we could count on our other old friend, an fleiscín, to keep these two English terms straight (handball vs. hand-ball), but, alas, a chairde, these days I wouldn’t trust the presence or absence of a fleiscín to clarify “ciall” at all. 

And then there’s the intriacht, “Lámha!,” used in réiteoireacht.  Amanna!

So, sin stór focal daoibh.  Bainigí sult astu!

And when does all this happen again?  Sa bhliain 2014.  Bhuel, tá ceithre bliana agam le bheith ag déanamh réidh! 

I think this is fada go leor for blag amháin but the next installment will be a pronunciation guide to these terms to help nuíosaigh to the liosta.

Oh, and by the way, Theas [hass], as you probably determined, means “South,” used as an adjective or adverb.