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Tag Archives: Happy Christmas

More Month-of-May Motifs (i nGaeilge, ar ndóigh) Posted by on Apr 27, 2014

(le Róislín) Is it the “merry month” of May or the “merry, merry month” of May?  Is it “meidhreach” or “sona,” “croíúil” or “súgach?  Or is it as in the traditional Irish phrase, “buí” (Mí Bhuí na Bealtaine)?  We looked at all of those terms in the last blog (nasc thíos) but here’s a quick…

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Cé Mhéad Patraisc? Cé Mhéad Drumadóir? (or ’12 Lá na Nollag’ Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot) Posted by on Dec 18, 2013

(le Róislín) In the last blog, we discussed “fearáin” (aka “fearáin bhreaca“) amongst other members of the order Columbiformes (coilm agus colúir, doves and pigeons, etc.).  And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” (turtar) or “dove” (colm, or sometimes “colúir”  — for more on the…

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Scannáin Nollag (Christmas Movies — na teidil i nGaeilge) Posted by on Dec 9, 2012

(le Róislín) Seo rogha de scannáin Nollag a bhfuil clú mór orthu.  Fad m’eolais níl leagan Gaeilge díobh ann so rinne mé an chéad chéim — na teidil a aistriú go Gaeilge.  An aithníonn tú iad?  Agus an féidir leat iad a mheaitseáil leis na teidil i mBéarla?  Mar chuidiú, tá gluais leis na freagraí. …

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Happiness Is … Lots of Ways to Say “Happy” in Irish (including “Happy Christmas”) Posted by on Dec 3, 2011

(le Róislín) Recently we talked about some of the more whimsical (i.e. jingle-ish) ways to describe Christmas (“Holly Jolly” and “Berry Merry”) in English and pondered their translatability into Irish.  Today let’s get back to the more traditional Irish phrase, and look at its various forms (singular and plural, greeting and response): Nollaig Shona duit…

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“Holly,” “Jolly,” “Merry,” agus “Berry” – An nDéanann Siad Rím le Chéile i nGaeilge? Posted by on Nov 30, 2011

(le Róislín) Well, the answer is no, ní dhéanann siad rím le chéile i nGaeilge.  “Athdhúbaltaigh ríme” [pronunciation below] normally don’t when you translate their component parts from language to language.  For example, to attempt to translate a popular English rhyming reduplicative, “easy breezy,” in Irish you could choose from the following: easy: éasca, furasta…

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Comhaireamh Síos go Lá (an) Altaithe Posted by on Nov 18, 2009

(le Róislín) For years, I wondered what the best way would be to say “Thanksgiving Day” or “Happy Thanksgiving!” i nGaeilge.  Since it’s not a traditional holiday in Ireland, or Europe in general for that matter, there is no real precedent for this particular phrase. I’ve experimented with several versions, and since the advent of…

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