(le Róislín)

Bhuel, I guess the word “bootstrap” bridges the gap between a “boot” (buatais) as a physical item, and “booting” (bútáil), as in “starting a computer.”

So what is the Irish for “bootstrap”?  Ironically, the most common word for the original idea of a physical bootstrap takes us back to “bróg” not “buatais.”   As you may recall, “bróg” can mean both “shoe” and “boot,” depending on context.  So “bootstrap” in Irish is “brógstrapa.”  As in:

modh an bhrógstrapa, bootstrap method in finance (say what?)

teoiric an bhrógstrapa, bootstrap theory in physics, which I never presumed to understand, anyway

So, the English phrase “to boot up” a computer comes from “to bootstrap.”  And what’s the Irish for booting up a computer?  Straightforward enough.  For “bútáil,” here are some sample forms:

bútáil: command form, progressive, and gerund (Bútáil é, ag bútáil, an bhútáil)

bhútáil [WOO-taw-il], booted

bútálfaidh [BOO-tawl-hee] will boot

bhútálfainn, I would boot

bhútálainn, I used to boot

bútáilte, (having been) booted

Somehow, I don’t think the subjunctive form is all that necessary, but, in for a penny, in for a pound:

bútála (go mbútála do ríomhaire i gceart, may your computer boot correctly)

And then, adding a nice juicy prefix (ath-), which will give us one of those beautiful four-consonants-in-a-row-all-almost-silent clusters (“-thbh-“), we have:

athbhútáil [AH-WOO-taw-il]: command form, progressive and gerund (Athbhútáil é, ag athbhútáil, an athbhútáil)

d’athbhútáil, rebooted

athbhútálfaidh [AH-WOO-taw-il-hee], will reboot

d’athbhútálfainn, I would reboot

d’athbhútálainn, I used to reboot

athbhútáilte (having been) rebooted

And, the subjunctive for what it’s worth:

athbhútála (go n-athbhútála do ríomhaire i gceart, may your computer reboot correctly)

As I was writing this, I kept thinking there must be examples of ” *athbhútálacha,” for questions like “How many reboots did it take?”  But I didn’t find any hits or references to such a word.  It also made me wonder about some phrases I saw online, like “It took three boots.”  Wouldn’t the second and third attempts actually be “reboots”?  Anyway, I’m getting outside my comfort-zone bailiwick, so input from any Irish-speaking tech types out there would be appreciated.

And a few extra notes, on the “curiouser and curiouser” side.  “Bootstrap” in regard to rocket engine operation (!) is fairly far afield: uathchothaitheach [OO-uh-KHUH-hih-h^yukh], lit. “self-feeding/sustaining, etc.”

Mh’anam, I should probably just stick to talking about folksier topics like pampútaí (pampooties) and muirleoga (round narrow-mouthed fish-baskets).   More up my original “caolsráid.”

Also curious, I think, is that in all my searching for a traditional sutorial reference to “bootstraps” in Irish, all I found was the abovementioned “brógstrapa.”  It would seem to me that with all the handmade shoes and boots on the go in earlier days, not to mention those “gréasaithe beaga cleasacha” a dtugtar “leipreacháin” orthu, that there ought to be some more traditional terminology for “bootstrap,” based, perhaps on “iall” (strap, leash, etc.) as opposed to “strapa.”  I did find “jockstrap,” btw, which has somehow escaped all the Irish language textbooks I’ve ever seen.  In case you’re wondering, it’s “bléinbheart.”  Not that “beart” normally means “strap” as such, but it does the job.  As for “bléin,” well, we’re out of space here, so ábhar blag eile?

SGF agus go n-éirí le do chuid iarrachtaí athbhútála go léir — Róislín