![\"tumad\u00f3ir](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2013\/07\/cartoon-scuba-diver-hi-clker.png\")
<\/a>tumad\u00f3ir sc\u00faba<\/p><\/div>\n
gaireas<\/b> [GURzh-uss], apparatus, device (as in gaireas frithghada\u00edochta, gaireas l\u00e9irithe Dhl\u00ed Boyle<\/b>)<\/p>\n
neamhsple\u00e1ch<\/b> [nyow-splawkh], most typically translated as “independent” (neamh<\/strong> + sple\u00e1ch<\/strong>), but here “self-contained”<\/p>\n an\u00e1laithe<\/b> [uh-NAWL-ih-huh], of breathing<\/p>\n faoi<\/b>, under<\/p>\n uisce<\/b> [ISH-kyuh, pronounced more or less like “ishke” in ” http:\/\/www.ishke.com\/<\/a>“], water.\u00a0\u00a0 You could also remember the pronunciation for this one by considering the English word whiskey\/whisky, derived from Irish “uisce beatha<\/strong>,” but just keep in mind that in the actual Irish word “uisce<\/strong>,” the “s” is slender, pronounced as in “fish” or “Trish.”\u00a0 \u00a0For more on uisce, uisce beatha,<\/strong> and fuisce<\/strong>, please see the n\u00f3ta (th\u00edos)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Now just because this phrase “gaireas neamhsple\u00e1ch an\u00e1laithe faoi uisce<\/strong>” exists as an official equivalent to “scuba” (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), it doesn’t mean that a lot of people use it.\u00a0 “Sc\u00faba<\/strong>,” usually with the long mark, is the more common term.\u00a0\u00a0 Not that “sc\u00faba<\/strong>” or the prefix “sc\u00fab-<\/strong>” are all that prevalent online either.\u00a0 C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad amas ar Google?\u00a0 Don t\u00e9arma “tumad\u00f3ireacht sc\u00faba + Gaeilge,” 290 amas, agus do “sc\u00fabthumadh + Gaeilge,” c\u00faig amas (seachas na cinn ag<\/strong> https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/<\/a>).\u00a0 Chuir m\u00e9 “+ Gaeilge” ann mar gan \u00e9, faighim 15,400 amas.<\/strong>\u00a0 Most of them have nothing to do with Irish or scuba-diving in Ireland.\u00a0 It looks like now Google is simply translating my search from Irish into English, and giving me tons of irrelevant results.<\/p>\n And, just in case you were wondered, Irish “gnafu<\/strong>” has nothing to do with English “snafu,” except that they are both acronyms.\u00a0 As for the entertaining origin of the English word “snafu,” if you’ve reached adulthood without learning the actual background of that acrainm, I’d suggest checking out http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Military_slang<\/a> or http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0155269\/<\/a> (the 1944 animated film by Friz Freleng, Three Brothers, which introduced three soldiers, Snafu, Tarfu, and Fubar).\u00a0 The acrainm Gaeilge “gnafu”<\/strong> also has nothing to do with the 1986 Dos game “gnafu” in which the player is a caterpillar trapped in a garden surrounded by walls and mushrooms, which it must avoid, and by cherries, which it must eat in order to grow bigger.\u00a0 To which I say, “\u00e0 chacun son go\u00fbt<\/em>.”\u00a0 T\u00e9igh go<\/strong> http:\/\/www.theisozone.com\/downloads\/pc\/dos-games\/gnafu-usa\/<\/a>, if you want to pursue gnafu!\u00a0 Why the game was called “gnafu” is unclear to me (eolas ag duine ar bith agaibh?<\/strong>), but I think we can safely say that “gnafu” or gnot, as it were, the bolb bocht<\/strong> in the game is not a likely candidate for “tumad\u00f3ireacht gnafu” (gaireas neamhsple\u00e1ch an\u00e1laithe faoi uisce)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Anyway, that also covers the intriguing origin of the English word “scuba,” coined in 1952.\u00a0 It’s not clear exactly when ” gaireas neamhsple\u00e1ch an\u00e1laithe faoi uisce<\/b>” emerged as an Irish equivalent, but I’d guess some time between 2005 and the present.<\/p>\n Next up, or maybe not, the closest Irish equivalent to English “snafu.”\u00a0 Hmm.\u00a0 <pondering> SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/b><\/p>\n N\u00f3ta faoin bhfocal uisce<\/b> agus c\u00falra na bhfocal<\/b> “whiskey” agus<\/b> “whisky”: \u00a0Irish has two basic words for “whiskey,” both based on the Irish word “uisce<\/strong>.”\u00a0 One is “uisce beatha<\/strong>” [ISH-kyuh BA-hun], lit. water of life, and the other is “fuisce<\/strong> [FWISH-kyuh],” which is “uisce<\/strong>” plus the “prosthetic f” (as in Irish “oscail<\/strong>,” Gaelic “fosgail<\/em>,” etc.).\u00a0\u00a0 The “fish\/Trish” type of “sh” sound, showing the origin of “whiskey” in “uisce<\/strong>” is sometimes seen in 19th-century or early 20th-century texts depicting a stereotypical Irish character who might “dhrink a sup o’ whishkey,” or worse luck, get “the dickens of a sup of whishkey” from a glass offered by a priest.<\/p>\n English speakers usually give “whiskey” a “broad” s-sound, as in “hiss” or “miss.”\u00a0 Except perhaps when they’re talking to the “ossifer” and claiming not to be “so think as you drunk I am” (which dates back at least to M*A*S*H, if not earlier).<\/p>\n Gluais\u00edn: acrainm<\/b>, acronym; bolb<\/b> [BOL-ub], caterpillar (actually, there’s a whole caterpillar terminology in Irish, including “p\u00e9ist<\/strong>,” which also means ‘worm,’ but that will have to wait for another blog; dl\u00ed<\/b>, law; frith<\/b>-, against, anti-, gada\u00edocht<\/b>, theft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Among the popular gn\u00edomha\u00edochta\u00ed samhraidh [GNEEV-ee-ukh-tee SOW-ree, remember “sow” sound as in “cow” or “how”] we discussed last time was tumad\u00f3ireacht sc\u00faba (aka sc\u00fabthumadh), which you probably picked out as “scuba diving.” \u00a0So naturally the question arises–what happens if we take the English word “scuba” back to its source? \u00a0Let’s approach this in…<\/p>\n