Toe Head and the Hag’s Footstep, Co. Cork; The Foot of the Sea, Co. Galway, and Other Geographical Footnotes, Plus Some More Straightforward Vocabulary Posted by róislín on Sep 16, 2009
(le Róislín) Well, as promised, today’s blog has a pedal theme, hopefully not too pedantic and at least as entertaining as it is pedagogic. Let’s start with the actual word for “toe.” Oops, not so fast. the actual words for “toe” (I think I’ll christen this the TMTM premise in vocabulary – “the more, the merrier,”…
Irish “From Head to Toe” but without the “Head” (ceann) or the “Toe” (méar coise)! Posted by róislín on Sep 13, 2009
(le Róislín) It’s interesting how languages can have similar idioms but with slightly different vocabulary. In Irish there are two ways to express the idea of “from head to toe,” but neither of them uses the word “head” or the word “toe.” Both offer some useful vocabulary, although admittedly, none of these keywords has quite…
An Deireadh le “Ceann” – Go Ceann Tamaill! Posted by róislín on Sep 10, 2009
Oh, I just couldn’t resist a few more, especially since these compound words are almost transparent – in other words, they mean just about exactly what you think they’d mean. That’s assuming you spot the cognates, of course: a) ceanncheathrú [say: KYAN-HYAH-roo, 2nd “c” is silent, “t” is silent] b) ceannfhocal [say: KYAN-OK-ul…
Cúpla Cor Cainte Eile leis an bhFocal “Ceann” (A Few More “Ceann” Idioms) Posted by róislín on Sep 7, 2009
(le Róislín) Here are a few more “head phrases,” that is, phrases with the Irish word “ceann” (head, end, extremity, one, top, etc.). There are actually probably several hundred idiomatic, figurative, or non-literal uses of “ceann,” so once again this is just cúpla sampla. Teach ceann tuí: thatched house, lit. house of a head/roof…
Ó Cheann Ceann an Fhocail “Ceann”: The Word “Head/End” from End to End Posted by róislín on Sep 4, 2009
Before completely leaving that intriguing compound in the surname Ó Cinnéide (ceann éide), how about looking further at the word “ceann” itself? It has lots of extended meanings besides “head” and “end” and is used in a few colorful expressions. Seo cúpla ceann: The preceding phrase was one example of the extended meanings of…
An Sloinne ‘Ó Cinnéide’ (Kennedy): Ciall an tSloinne Posted by róislín on Sep 1, 2009
(le Róislín) Having delved a bit into some of the extended Kennedy family lineage, I thought it might be suimiúil to look into the sloinne itself, especially since its meaning seems to belie the family’s classic dathúlacht (good looks). How’s that for a mid-blog cliffhanger? As you may already know, the Ó part of the…
Edward Moore Kennedy (1932-2009) (Cuid a Dó) Posted by róislín on Aug 29, 2009
Cad iad na sloinnte eile i gcraobh ghinealaigh Uí Chinnéide? What are the other surnames in the Kennedy family tree? The English equivalents are given at the end of the blog. Agus cárbh as na teaghlaigh? Seo cuid acu, ar a laghad (here are some of them, at least). Mac Gearailt: Ba é “Mac…