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Tag Archives: bluebell

Nature Words in Irish, pt. 4: blackberry, budgerigar/parakeet, buttercup (and bluebell in review) Posted by on Sep 30, 2019

(le Róislín) Continuing our list of nature words in Irish, today’s blog will cover the following: blackberry, budgie/budgerigar/parakeet, and buttercup, with a nod back to “bluebell,” which was the first subject treated in this series.   Is é sin le rá, déanfaidh muid na “b-anna.”  Tá “acorn” (dearcán) agus “almond” (almóinn) déanta againn cheana féin.  BTW…

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Nature Words: the Irish for ‘almond’ and a baker’s dozen of related terms Posted by on Sep 18, 2019

(le Róislín)   Recently, we’ve been looking at the nature words stricken from the Oxford Junior Dictionary [English] about 10 years ago.  As you may recall, words like “acorn” and “almond” were removed from the dictionary and replaced by tech terms like “analog” and “MP3 player.”  I’ve posed the question several times now in this…

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Nature Words: Should They Be in a Children’s Dictionary or Not? Let’s Consider the Irish Word “dearcán” (acorn) Posted by on Aug 31, 2019

(le Róislín) Can you imagine a dictionary without the word for “acorn”?  And, in particular, can you imagine an Irish dictionary without the word “dearcán” (acorn)? And now that Dublin’s Phoenix Park has the larger-than-life “Dearcán na nDaoine” near “Áras an Uachtaráin” (the President’s residence) it’s even harder to imagine removing the word “dearcán” from…

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‘Bluebell’ or ‘Broadbrand’: Which Word Should Be in a Children’s Dictionary? — A British Example and Irish Question Posted by on Aug 20, 2019

(le Róislín) As far back as 2009, many people noticed that the Oxford Junior Dictionary, a monolingual English dictionary for children seven years old or thereabouts, dropped approximately 50 words about nature so they would have room for more 21st-century tech-oriented words.  While I can sort of understand the logic, I wonder if perhaps hundreds…

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An tEarrach (The Spring): 20 Márta 2014 Posted by on Mar 22, 2014

 (le Róislín) By all accounts now, Spring has finally sprung, on March 20th for this year.  At least astronomically.  Maybe in the next blog we’ll look at two other traditional dates for “Spring”– February 1st and March 1st.  All three calendar systems have their validity. Meanwhile, how do we say “Spring” in Irish?  And just…

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