Tag Archives: uisce
How to say ‘water-lily’ in Irish, without using the word ‘uisce’ (water) Posted by róislín on Jun 17, 2019
(le Róislín) Intriguingly, Irish has quite a few words for water-lily. For water-lilies in general, we have bual-lile, bior-rós, duilleog bháite, and póicín locha. More specifically, for distinct types, we have bacán bán or duilleog bháite bhán, for the white, and cabhán abhann, duilleog bháite bhuí, and liach-loghar, for the yellow. With compound words like…
Cineálacha Béar agus Cineálacha Beár (Irish Words for Types of Bears and Types of Bars) (Cuid/Pt. 1/2) Posted by róislín on Feb 28, 2018
(le Róislín) We recently looked at “Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBéar Bán” (International Polar Bear Day) celebrated every year on February 27th, and I hope that thinking about that day gave you some paws (ermm, oops, should be “pause” – groan / duck) for thought about what is happening to “gnáthóg na mbéar bán” (the habitat…
Bia le Beoir (Aguisín): One More Irish Phrase for a Beer-friendly Snack Food, Cuid / Part 1 Posted by róislín on Mar 23, 2017
(le Róislín) Well, it may not have quite the linguistic sizzle as the phrase “pork scratchings” (US equivalent “cracklins” or “cracklings”), aka “fried pork rinds,” but here’s the Irish for the bia sneaice in the picture above, quite straightforwardly: craiceann muiceola friochta (skin + of pork + fried). [Agus seo aguisín don aguisín seo: no sooner…
Cén fhéile? Cén deoch? (An Irish Language Guide to Beverages and When to Drink Them) Part / Cuid 1 Posted by róislín on Mar 7, 2017
(le Róislín) While many beverages can readily be drunk all year around (piontaí Guinness ina measc), some are particularly associated with certain holidays or seasons. Today’s blogpost will start a mini-series about beverages and some special days they are most associated with. We’ll look at the beverages in seasonal order, starting with mí an Mhárta…
Ó ‘Ghnafu” go “Scúba,” Or Should That Be ’Ó Scúba go Gnafu”? Posted by róislín on Jul 25, 2013
(le Róislín) Among the popular gníomhaíochtaí samhraidh [GNEEV-ee-ukh-tee SOW-ree, remember “sow” sound as in “cow” or “how”] we discussed last time was tumadóireacht scúba (aka scúbthumadh), which you probably picked out as “scuba diving.” So naturally the question arises–what happens if we take the English word “scuba” back to its source? Let’s approach this in…
Béigil: Uaine nó Glas? (Which Type of ‘Green’ for Bagels?) Posted by róislín on Mar 27, 2013
(le Róislín) I figured there would be a lot more online references to “green beer” than to “green bagels” and, iontas na n-iontas, that was the correct assumption. When you search for the terms in Irish (beoir ghlas, beoir uaine, béigil ghlasa, béigil uaine), the numbers for both drop dramatically. Not that there are that…
Ainmhithe Eile (ón Iolra go dtí an tUatha, from Plural to Singular) Posted by róislín on Sep 12, 2012
(le Róislín) In the last blog, we created a chart with the names of various types of ceathairchosaigh chrúbacha (ungulate quadrupeds), going from the plural form to the singular form. Why an t-iolra go dtí an t-uatha? Just for a change of pace, is dócha. So often we see an fhoirm uatha first, and then…