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Tag Archives: figurative

Three Ways to Say “Keeping Your Nose to the Grindstone” in Irish without Using the Words for “Nose” or “Grindstone” –  Is é sin a rá, cora cainte atá difriúil ar fad i bhfoclaíocht ach mar a gcéanna (beagnach) i gciall Posted by on Aug 31, 2017

(le Róislín) In the most recent blogpost (nasc thíos), we did some discussion of noses (sróna) and grindstones (clocha líofa), which led to an interesting vocabulary work-out.  In today’s post, we’ll actually look at some more traditional ways of saying “to keep your nose to the grindstone,” none of which mention noses or grindstones.   This…

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Ag Caint faoi Thuí agus faoi Thuíodóireacht (Speaking of Thatching) Posted by on Apr 14, 2013

(le Róislín) Before moving away from tuíodóireacht to other topics, I thought it would be interesting to look at the tools used by a tuíodóir, and also to look briefly at the use of díonta tuí outside of Ireland and Britain. You might have just noticed the phrase “díonta tuí” (thatched roofs).  And you might…

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Maidir le “Mud” (Muck, Mire, etc.) Posted by on Mar 23, 2012

(le Róislín) Before getting back to the question of the shot glass vs. the “timbléar fuisce,” I thought I’d look a little further into the words for mud, mire, muck and the like, as mentioned in the last blog.  Whether you decide to use any of these for an cuspa sláinte traidisiúnta Béarla (Here’s mud…

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Talkin’ Turkey (Go Litriúil agus Go Fíortha) Posted by on Nov 6, 2011

(le Róislín) There are probably enough “turkey” idioms in English to fill many blogs, but of course, we have to keep in mind that most of these do not occur literally in Irish.  Not surprising, since the bird isn’t native to Ireland, and the Irish language has plenty of local references for speaking go meafarach. …

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Aimsir na Cásca Posted by on Apr 21, 2011

(le Róislín) Hmm, “Aimsir na Cásca”?  “The Weather of Easter”?  Not really, even though Easter weather may be important for such outdoor activities as tóraíochtaí uibheacha Cásca or for the temporary workers who wear cultacha coiníní Cásca and stand outside places like bialanna and seomraí taispeántais carranna to attract customers to come in.  Iad ag…

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