Tag Archives: Spot
A Vocabulary Comparison: ‘Spot the Puppy’ (English) and ‘Bran an Coileán’ (Irish) Posted by róislín on Apr 12, 2017
(le Róislín) Translations are hardly ever word for word or exactly literal. Languages are too idiomatic for most literal translations to flow well. We might expect this especially in songs, poetry and the Classics. But I thought it would interesting to look at a fairly simple text, and one that’s a lot of fun for…
If the other grandmother is “Grandma,” what Irish term can you use? Posted by róislín on Oct 24, 2016
(le Róislín) Inspired by a recent comment from reader Rita C., who noted that Irish has “so many choices for Irish grandmother names,” I thought this would be a good time to review some of the terms. This blogpost will deal with grandmothers, and we’ll probably have a companion piece for the grandfathers. Go raibh…
Cait: Cúpla Téarma Eile (Mothchat, Baldúin, Crúbálaí) Posted by róislín on Dec 9, 2013
(le Róislín) A few more cat terms have recently come to my attention. Let’s start with the rather eye-catching: mothchat [muh-khaht] tomcat Ar dtús báire, ní peata “Leamhanfhir” é. Nó “peata Fhear an Leamhain,” más fearr leat mar sin é. So, no, the Mothman of West Virginia (and of “Prophecies” fame) didn’t suddenly become a…
Cats Galore in Irish (Cait, Caitíní, Piscíní, Pisíní, srl.) Posted by róislín on Dec 4, 2013
(le Róislín) I suppose I should have saved this blog for National Cat Day (29 Deireadh Fómhair 2014; naisc thíos) but coming swift on the heels of the recent “caitín gleoite caillte sa spás amuigh” blog (thanks to Miley Cyrus’s recent CGI imagery), I couldn’t resist taking the plunge. So how many different ways are…