{"id":15,"date":"2009-04-03T22:41:40","date_gmt":"2009-04-04T02:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=15"},"modified":"2016-07-22T20:55:04","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T20:55:04","slug":"na-hamadain-ar-leanuint-%e2%80%93-the-fools-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-hamadain-ar-leanuint-%e2%80%93-the-fools-continued\/","title":{"rendered":"Na hAmad\u00e1in (ar lean\u00faint) \u2013 The Fools (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0 By now you might be wondering, so what is the Irish word for a female fool?\u00a0 You might have encountered it already, if you\u2019ve read Charles Kickham\u2019s 1879 novel, Knocknagow<\/em>, which uses an anglicized form of the word, “oonshugh.” \u00a0English-medium Irish literature of that vintage tends to be full of Irish words, but often heavily disguised by anglicized spelling.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 On April 1st<\/sup> of 2008, you might have been tricked by the prank announcement of an arts management funding program, which got the word almost right, just missing a s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong> (long mark).\u00a0 The generous (but fictitious) program promised grants for activities such as attending international conferences or cultural events.\u00a0 The program was called Oinseach.\u00a0 <\/strong>Clicking on the link provided simply led one to a site promoting music.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 With the s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong> in place, the word would be \u00f3inseach<\/strong> and the anglicized spellings of it include \u201coonshugh\u201d and \u201cownshuck.\u201d\u00a0 It generally means a \u201cfemale fool,\u201d but sometimes is used for men also. \u00a0The diminutive is \u201c\u00f3ins\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d (little fool).\u00a0 The full set of forms for \u00f3inseach<\/strong> is: an \u00f3inseach <\/strong>(the fool), na h\u00f3ins\u00ed <\/strong>(of the fool), na h\u00f3inseacha <\/strong>(the fools), and na n-\u00f3inseach <\/strong>(of the fools).\u00a0 .\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>Another set of words for \u201cfool\u201d includes the following: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>gamal <\/span><\/strong>or gamarall: <\/strong>a fool, lout, or gomeral<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>gamal\u00f3g: <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0a stupid-looking or foolish woman (you\u2019re taking your chances with that one!)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>gambairne <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0or bambairne: <\/strong>a fool.\u00a0 Bambairne <\/strong>can also mean \u201ca rustic\u201d or, somewhat curiously, \u201ca big strong person.\u201d\u00a0 Gambairne<\/strong> can also mean \u201ca long-legged person”!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>g\u00e1ma\u00ed <\/span><\/strong>or g\u00e1m: <\/strong>a fool, a dolt, or, in Irish English, and some American regional English, a gaum <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>and finally, a verb related to all of this, g\u00e1ma\u00edocht: <\/strong>\u00a0behaving like an open-mouthed fool.<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, there’s always amad\u00e1n<\/strong> (pl: amad\u00e1in<\/strong>), the most basic word for ‘fool.’<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Bhuel <\/span><\/strong>(well), that will have to cover fools, at least until this time an bhliain seo chugainn<\/strong> (next year), when no doubt, we\u2019ll unearth some more related terms.\u00a0 Meanwhile, we\u2019ll turn shortly to some terms for cleverness, smartness, and cuteness (in the traditional sense, not physical appearance), and uncover the symbolism of the name of one of Roddy Doyle\u2019s characters, Dublin-born Henry Glick, in his trilogy, The Last Roundup.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Bhur mblag\u00e1la\u00ed – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

\u00a0(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn) \u00a0 By now you might be wondering, so what is the Irish word for a female fool?\u00a0 You might have encountered it already, if you\u2019ve read Charles Kickham\u2019s 1879 novel, Knocknagow, which uses an anglicized form of the word, “oonshugh.” \u00a0English-medium Irish literature of that vintage tends to be full of Irish words, but…<\/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":[36228,460533,460535,460538,460547,460548,5163,9103,10715,207304,460539,460540,8663,8664,460528,460532,460537,5387,460550,460530,460549,460526,460525,460544,460545,460536,460529,460527,8662,460542,460541,460543,460546,460534,460531,7087,10747],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-april-fools-day","tag-bambairne","tag-big-strong","tag-dolt","tag-doyle","tag-dublin-born","tag-female","tag-fool","tag-foolish","tag-gam","tag-gamai","tag-gamaiocht","tag-gamal","tag-gamalog","tag-gamarall","tag-gambairne","tag-gaum","tag-glic","tag-glick","tag-gomeral","tag-henry","tag-hoinseacha","tag-hoinsi","tag-kickham","tag-knocknagow","tag-long-legged","tag-lout","tag-n-oinseach","tag-oinseach","tag-oonshugh","tag-open-mouthed","tag-ownshuck","tag-roddy","tag-rustic","tag-stupid-looking","tag-the-last-roundup","tag-woman"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t