{"id":1650,"date":"2012-01-04T20:35:50","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T20:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2014-03-28T22:29:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T22:29:33","slug":"cuig-fhrasa-bearla-gan-mhaith-de-reir-fhionntan-ui-thuathail-aka-fintan-o%e2%80%99toole-cuid-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cuig-fhrasa-bearla-gan-mhaith-de-reir-fhionntan-ui-thuathail-aka-fintan-o%e2%80%99toole-cuid-13\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00faig Fhr\u00e1sa (B\u00e9arla) Gan Mhaith (De R\u00e9ir Fhionnt\u00e1n U\u00ed Thuathail aka Fintan O\u2019Toole) (Cuid 1\/4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Noted journalist Fintan O\u2019Toole recently published his list of five phrases that he thinks should be outlawed in 2012 (http:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/newspaper\/opinion\/2012\/0103\/1224309734610_pf.html<\/a>).\u00a0 Not that words are typically actually outlawed as such, but he feels these five phrases \u201cdistort or conceal\u201d reality and are misleading.\u00a0 For example, we constantly discuss \u201causterity,\u201d but meanwhile certain individuals are earning unfathomable salaries or bonuses, and vast sums of money are being allocated for questionable purposes.<\/p>\n

Whether you agree with O\u2019Toole\u2019s argument and\/or with his specific choice of words or not, it\u2019s interesting to consider what the five would be in Irish.\u00a0 Or whether it would be as straightforward to pinpoint the exact concept he means amongst the multiple Irish synonyms connected to some of his choices.\u00a0 Do bhar\u00failse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note: while most of O\u2019Toole\u2019s choices are literally \u201cfocail, <\/strong>\u201d one is actually a \u201cseanfhocal<\/strong>\u201d (proverb) as you\u2019ll see when we get to uimhir a c\u00faig<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.. G\u00e9ire? Gairge? D\u00e9ine? G\u00e1tar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What English definition do these all have in common?\u00a0 Stuck?\u00a0 Think of an English word we\u2019ve heard ad nauseam recently, presumably to encourage us to think that we\u2019re all san fhaopach<\/strong> together.<\/p>\n

Let me give you the range of meanings first, minus the one common thread (le haghaidh an d\u00fashl\u00e1in, ar nd\u00f3igh<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

G\u00e1tar<\/strong>: need, want, distress, difficulty, as in \u201cbeart g\u00e1tair<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00e9ine<\/strong>: intensity, hardness, severity, as in \u201cc\u00e1inaisn\u00e9is d\u00e9ine;<\/strong>\u201d cf. \u201cdian<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Gairge<\/strong>: harshness, gruffness, bitterness; cf. \u201cgarg<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

G\u00e9ire:<\/strong> sharpness, steepness, sourness; cf. \u201cg\u00e9ar<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

All of these can be translated as \u201causterity.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cBeart g\u00e1tair<\/strong>\u201d means \u201causterity measure\u201d and \u201cc\u00e1inaisn\u00e9is d\u00e9ine<\/strong>\u201d means \u201causterity budget.\u201d\u00a0 The idea of austerity can also be conveyed by an adjective, \u201cdibhoilscitheach<\/strong>,\u201d as in \u201cbeartas d\u00edbhoilscitheach<\/strong>,\u201d a deflationary (austerity) policy. \u00a0\u201cD\u00edbhoilscitheach<\/strong>\u201d may look like a mouthful, but it\u2019s not so bad if you think of it as the negating prefix \u201cd\u00ed<\/strong>-\u201c plus \u201cboilscitheach<\/strong>\u201d from \u201cboilscigh<\/strong>\u201d (inflate). “Boilscitheach<\/strong>”\u00a0[BIL-shkih-hukh] gets lenited after the prefix, becoming “-bhoilscitheach<\/strong>” [WIL-shkih-hukh].<\/p>\n

So, maybe you didn\u2019t expect that the first word would be the one discussed in the introductory paragraph.\u00a0 I could have scrambled things up more, but, bhuel<\/strong>, feeling sochma<\/strong> (easy-going) today.<\/p>\n

2. Tarrth\u00e1il?\u00a0 Banna\u00ed?<\/strong> Or (but not really) \u201ctaoscadh\u201d<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Tarrth\u00e1il:<\/strong> saving, rescue, help, deliverance, intervention, mediation<\/p>\n

Banna, <\/strong>pl. bannai<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>bond, binding, banns (in marriage)<\/p>\n

Taoscadh:<\/strong> pumping out, draining, emptying, drawing off, earthing (as in \u201cto earth up potatoes\u201d)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the common thread here?\u00a0 \u201cBailout,\u201d either in the sense of \u201csaving,\u201d or \u201cgoing bail for him\u201d (ag dul i mbanna\u00ed air<\/strong>).\u00a0 \u201cTarrth\u00e1il<\/strong>\u201d would be the best translation of for \u201cbailout\u201d in the economic sense.<\/p>\n

What on earth do I mean by \u201cOr (but not really)\u201d?\u00a0 Well, the Irish words for bailing financially (tarrth\u00e1il<\/strong>) and bailing regarding water (taoscadh<\/strong>) are completely unrelated etymologically.\u00a0 But, as I just discovered, in English, \u201cbail\u201d in the financial sense and \u201cbailing\u201d out a boat have a common thread of history in the Latin words \u201cbajula<\/em>\u201d (vessel) and \u201cbajulare<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 But, yeah, that really belongs in a blog for Latin and\/or English!<\/p>\n

Phew!\u00a0 Numbers 3, 4, and 5 will have to wait for upcoming blogs.\u00a0 I\u2019m estimating three altogether, though it\u2019s diabhalta deacair<\/strong> to tell in advance.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a somewhat meandering clue as to the other three.\u00a0 Of course, you can always find them by following the link above.<\/p>\n

And by the way, regarding Fintan O\u2019Toole\u2019s name, I took the liberty of writing it in Irish (Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 Tuathail<\/strong>) since I see at least a handful of references online to it that way, in Irish-medium publications.\u00a0 Just as a disclaimer though, I haven\u2019t myself seen him use the Irish form of his name.\u00a0 In Irish, the surname \u00d3 Tuathail<\/strong> has one more syllable than in English [oh TOO-uh-hil, as opposed to English \u201coh tool\u201d]. \u00a0P\u00e9 sc\u00e9al \u00e9, SGCa2 (sl\u00e1n go cuid a d\u00f3) \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Noted journalist Fintan O\u2019Toole recently published his list of five phrases that he thinks should be outlawed in 2012 (http:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/newspaper\/opinion\/2012\/0103\/1224309734610_pf.html).\u00a0 Not that words are typically actually outlawed as such, but he feels these five phrases \u201cdistort or conceal\u201d reality and are misleading.\u00a0 For example, we constantly discuss \u201causterity,\u201d but meanwhile certain individuals are…<\/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":[111865,111843,111867,111821,111822,315973,315972,315963,315947,315962,309472,315955,315980,309474,3131,315964,111883,315977,315951,315965,2068,315946,315967,315969,315985,315968,111819,111820,111817,315952,111818,315956,111882,315961,315957,315954,315949,315953,3217,315948,315978,315979,6239,111888,276190,315966,315975,315974,315950,315958,315960,315959,315983,315984,315970,315971,9311],"class_list":["post-1650","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-austerity","tag-bail","tag-bailout","tag-bajula","tag-bajulare","tag-bann","tag-banna","tag-beart","tag-beart-gatair","tag-beartas","tag-binding","tag-bitterness","tag-boilscitheach","tag-bond","tag-budget","tag-cainaisneis","tag-deine","tag-deliverance","tag-dian","tag-dibhoilscitheach","tag-difficulty","tag-distress","tag-drain","tag-draw-off","tag-dul-i-mbannai","tag-empty","tag-fintan-otoole","tag-fionntan-o-tuathail","tag-focail-gan-mhaith","tag-gairge","tag-gan-mhaith","tag-garg","tag-gatar","tag-gear","tag-geire","tag-gruffness","tag-hardness","tag-harshness","tag-help","tag-intensity","tag-intervention","tag-mediation","tag-need","tag-o-tuathail","tag-package","tag-pump-out","tag-rescue","tag-save","tag-severity","tag-sharpness","tag-sourness","tag-steepness","tag-taoscadh","tag-tarrthail","tag-to-earth","tag-to-earth-potatoes","tag-want"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650","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=1650"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5129,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions\/5129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}