{"id":1298,"date":"2011-10-12T00:59:17","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T00:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1298"},"modified":"2015-02-04T10:41:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T10:41:02","slug":"%e2%80%9csweet-nothings%e2%80%9d-as-gaeilge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%e2%80%9csweet-nothings%e2%80%9d-as-gaeilge\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSweet Nothings\u201d as Gaeilge"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBaothbhriathra mealltacha<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 a curious phrase, especially since, as mentioned last time, it contains neither\u00a0the word \u201csweet\u201d nor the word \u201cnothing.\u201d\u00a0 First let\u2019s discus the two words that aren\u2019t in the Irish phrase (nothing like the roundabout route!).<\/p>\n

\u201cSweet\u201d is most typically the adjective \u201cmilis<\/strong>\u201d [MIL-ish], although there are other possiblities (cumhra<\/strong>, for scent, and binn<\/strong> for music).<\/p>\n

There are many ways to say \u201cnothing\u201d (the word \u201cnothing,\u201d that is) in Irish.\u00a0 They include tada, faic, aon rud, rud ar bith, a dhath<\/strong> (or a dhath ar bith<\/strong>) and aon n\u00ed<\/strong> (that’s \u201cn\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d the noun, meaning \u201cthing\u201d).\u00a0 The latter four (aon rud, rud ar bith, a dhath<\/strong>, and\u00a0aon n\u00ed<\/strong>) can also mean \u201canything,\u201d so the sentence or context has to be negative for them to have the meaning of \u201cnothing.\u201d\u00a0 We can also say \u201cneamhn\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cnothing,\u201d but that is not as colloquial, used more philosophically, existentially, or in arithmetic.<\/p>\n

So what does \u201cbaothbhriathra mealltacha<\/strong>\u201d literally mean?<\/p>\n

baoth<\/strong>, normally means \u201csilly,\u201d also \u201cvain\u201d or \u201cgiddy;\u201d with reasonable frequency it\u2019s actually a variation of \u201cmaoth<\/strong>,\u201d which means, among other things \u201csoppy\u201d or \u201csentimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

briathar<\/strong>, pl. briathra<\/strong>, usually \u201cverb,\u201d but sometimes, as here, \u201cword\u201d<\/p>\n

mealltach<\/strong>, beguiling, coaxing, but, and here\u2019s the caveat, also deceptive or deceitful<\/p>\n

Now, how \u201cnothing-ish\u201d any whisperers\u2019 \u201csweet nothings\u201d are is up to the individual.\u00a0 A lot of people see the term \u201csweet nothings\u201d as implying complete insincerity.\u00a0 Others see it as simply using the standard terms of endearment, presumably for the standard effect.\u00a0 So giving all the \u201cbaothbhriathra<\/strong>\u201d whisperers out there the benefit of the doubt, and assuming a little more \u201cmac\u00e1ntacht chainte<\/strong>\u201d and a little less of the \u201cbaoth\u00e1ntacht<\/strong>,\u201d here are some terms you can use.<\/p>\n

All of these \u201ct\u00e9arma\u00ed ceana<\/strong>\u201d are in direct address (i.e. ready to whisper!).\u00a0 Please note that as part of being in direct address (sa tuiseal gairmeach<\/strong>), these phrases all start with \u201ca<\/strong>\u201d in Irish, not with \u201cmo<\/strong>\u201d (my).\u00a0 But it\u2019s fairly standard practice to translate them as \u201cmy\u201d-phrases since English would tend to use the possessive adjective with terms of endearment. \u00a0So the literal meaning of “A st\u00f3r<\/strong>!”\u00a0is closer to\u00a0“O sweetheart!” but it’s often translated as “My sweetheart!” \u00a0The single letter \u201ca<\/strong>\u201d here is the vocative particle, and it causes the sound change you see at the beginning of the words cro\u00ed, cuisle, gr\u00e1, muirn\u00edn, searc<\/strong>, and taisce<\/strong><\/p>\n

The translations provided are guidelines.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s pretty hard to distinguish between \u201cmy darling\u201d and \u201cmy dear\u201d in English, so some of these are fairly interchangeable.<\/p>\n

a st\u00f3r<\/strong>!, my sweetheart!<\/p>\n

a st\u00f3ir\u00edn<\/strong>!, my darling!, lit. my little sweetheart, but the \u201clittle\u201d part is more endearing than diminutive<\/p>\n

a chro\u00ed! <\/strong>[uh khree], my dear! (lit. heart)<\/p>\n

a chuisle<\/strong>!, my dear! (lit. pulse)<\/p>\n

a chuisle mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>!, my heart\u2019s beloved! (lit. pulse of my heart)<\/p>\n

a shearc mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>!, love of my heart!<\/p>\n

a mhuirn\u00edn<\/strong>!, my darling!, my beloved!, my sweetheart!, my dear!<\/p>\n

a r\u00fan<\/strong>!, my dear!<\/p>\n

a ansa<\/strong>!, my dear!, dearest one (not to mistaken for the homonym, \u201cansa<\/strong>\u201d meaning \u201cdifficult;” hmm, well, come to think of it \u2026)<\/p>\n

a ghr\u00e1<\/strong>!, my love!<\/p>\n

a ghr\u00e1 geal<\/strong>!, my beloved!, lit. my bright love<\/p>\n

a chumann!<\/strong>, my darling!<\/p>\n

a thaisce! <\/strong>[uh HASH-kyuh],\u00a0my darling!, which you now may find texted as \u201ca #\u201d \u2013 so I guess we\u2019re no longer simply whispering \u00e1r mbaothbhriathra mealltacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 Just keeping up with the times!\u00a0 N\u00f3ta do Mheirice\u00e1naigh:<\/strong> the symbol # has to be read as \u201chash key,\u201d not as \u201cpound sign,\u201d for the proper effect here. \u00a0The symbol is also called “hash tag,” but that wouldn’t give us the bilingual wordplay.<\/p>\n

Bhuel, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0 Aon t\u00e9arma eile ag \u00e9inne?\u00a0 N\u00ed sh\u00edlim go bhfuil aon Ghaeilge ar<\/strong> \u201csnookums.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cA *shnucuim!\u201d? \u00a0Ar nd\u00f3igh, n\u00ed<\/strong> \u201ca snook\u201d (ord\u00f3g le sr\u00f3n) at\u00e1 i gceist agam anseo ach an t\u00e9arma ceana B\u00e9arla. \u00a0<\/strong>SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: caint,<\/strong> speech, speaking (cainte<\/strong>, of speech, of speaking); cion<\/strong>, affection (ceana<\/strong>, of affection); \u00e9inne<\/strong>, anyone; mac\u00e1ntacht<\/strong>, honesty<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) \u201cBaothbhriathra mealltacha\u201d \u2013 a curious phrase, especially since, as mentioned last time, it contains neither\u00a0the word \u201csweet\u201d nor the word \u201cnothing.\u201d\u00a0 First let\u2019s discus the two words that aren\u2019t in the Irish phrase (nothing like the roundabout route!). \u201cSweet\u201d is most typically the adjective \u201cmilis\u201d [MIL-ish], although there are other possiblities (cumhra, for…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[10714,111236,111232,111234,29203,111233,111195,100,111235,111237,111238,111230,2563,111231],"class_list":["post-1298","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-baoth","tag-baothbhriathra","tag-chuisle","tag-chumann","tag-cuisle","tag-cumann","tag-gra","tag-love","tag-maoth","tag-mealltach","tag-mealltacha","tag-sweet-nothings","tag-terms-of-endearment","tag-whisper-sweet-nothings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1298"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6289,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298\/revisions\/6289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}