{"id":96,"date":"2009-11-06T10:10:12","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T14:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=96"},"modified":"2009-11-06T10:10:12","modified_gmt":"2009-11-06T14:10:12","slug":"%e2%80%9cfuist%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9cwhisht%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9ceist%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cis-binn-beal-ina-thost%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%e2%80%9cfuist%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9cwhisht%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9ceist%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cis-binn-beal-ina-thost%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFuist,\u201d \u201cWhisht,\u201d \u201c\u00c9ist,\u201d and \u201cIs Binn B\u00e9al ina Thost\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As you may have figured out, based on the one English spelling above, these are all ways to either firmly request or circuitously insinuate that someone should be silent.\u00a0 <\/span>We see yet another variation, \u201cwhist,\u201d in our Gaelic resource de la semaine, Mary Pat Kelly\u2019s Galway Bay<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/span>In one spelling or another, the word shows up in sources from both Ireland and Scotland, such as: <\/span><\/p>\n

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

1) \u201cWhist! your honour, whist!\u201d ejaculated Paddy. \u201cI\u2019m only desaving the beast.\u201d (from \u201cA Knowing Horse,\u201d a 19th<\/sup>-century humorous Irish anecdote; \u201cyour honour\u201d here is a passenger in a chaise, not a judge!) <\/span><\/p>\n

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2) \u201cBut you can\u2019t just tell Charlie* to hold his whisht,\u201d P. J. Mara, quoted by Gene Kerrigan in Magill <\/em>magazine.\u00a0 <\/span>Kudos to those who know which Charlie is intended.\u00a0 <\/span>Freagra th\u00edos.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

3) \u201cMichael put his finger on my lips, so gentle.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhist, Honora, a st\u00f3r.\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019ll manage.\u201d Mary Pat Kelly, Galway Bay<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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

4) \u201cYe need na<\/span><\/a> <\/span>doubt, I held my whisht,\u201d Robert Burns, The Vision<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>5) \u201c\u2026 <\/span>whisht, hinny; whisht, my bonnie man, and let’s hear what they’re doing. Deil’s in ye, will ye whisht?,\u201d Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cFuist<\/strong>\u201d is more or less equivalent to \u201cwhisht,\u201d but \u201cwhisht\u201d seems to get translated as \u201c\u00e9ist<\/strong>\u201d (lit. listen).\u00a0 <\/span>The latter typically shows up in the phrase \u201c\u00e9ist do bh\u00e9al<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Hmm, that\u2019s literally \u201clisten your mouth.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>If that translation seems a bit awkward, one could think of it more as \u201csilence your mouth\u201d or \u201cmake your mouth silent,\u201d which would certainly facilitate listening!\u00a0 <\/span>And I can think of at least a few gaotair\u00ed<\/strong> (windbags) who might profit from the advice. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

As to which came first, \u201cFuist<\/strong>!\u201d in Irish or \u201cWhisht\u201d in English, I think it\u2019s a bit of a \u201csc\u00e9al faoin sic\u00edn agus faoin ubh,<\/strong>\u201d since \u201cwhisht\u201d also existed in Middle English (ca. 14th<\/sup> century).\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c\u00c9ist<\/strong>,\u201d of course, is a longstanding Irish word and is widely used in its perfectly straightforward sense, \u201clisten.\u201d \u00a0<\/span>One recurring sample, pluralized to \u201c\u00c9istig\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d is notable as the opening invocation of many a Dalta\u00ed na Gaeilge <\/strong>meeting.\u00a0 <\/span>Those of you who have attended will never forget the athshondas athfhuaimneach<\/strong> as \u201c\u00e1r Liam\u201d interjectionally enjoins the group to silence, as Merriam-Webster would have it, or as we might say with modern bluntness, tells everyone to \u201cshaddup.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Finally, for those who favor \u201ctimchaint<\/strong>\u201d as opposed to \u201cgiorraisce<\/strong>,\u201d we have the seanfhocal.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Literally, \u201cIs binn b\u00e9al ina thost<\/strong>,\u201d means \u201cIt\u2019s sweet, a mouth in its silence.\u201d A related but more direct command would be \u201cB\u00ed i do thost<\/strong>\u201d (be in your silence).\u00a0 <\/span>Some day we\u2019ll have to give the \u201csqueaky wheels\u201d their due and acknowledge that there can also be some value in speaking up and\/or getting greased!\u00a0 <\/span>But proverbial wisdom is not necessarily consistent, as the \u201ctoo many cooks\u201d vs. \u201ctwo heads\u201d dilemma shows us.\u00a0 <\/span>How about one two-headed cook, \u00e0 la Zaphod Beeblebrox?\u00a0 <\/span>Not that he was really a cook, as I recall.\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe I\u2019ve just been dwelling on this particular blog beag\u00e1n r\u00f3fhada<\/strong>?\u00a0 <\/span>Am do bheag\u00e1n sc\u00edthe<\/strong>!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

*Freagra: C\u00e9n S\u00e9arlas?<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Which Charles?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First hint, a shloinne i nGaeilge<\/strong>: \u00d3 hEochaidh<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span>Leid a D\u00f3<\/strong>:\u00a0 <\/span>His surname means \u201chorseman,\u201d which could be simply an accident of ancestry and naming, but this particular \u00d3 hEochaidh<\/strong> was also known as \u201cIrish bloodstock’s great benefactor.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Comhtharl\u00fa n\u00f3 sna g\u00e9inte (genes)?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

So, the answer is, as you may have figured out, Charles James Haughey (Cathal S\u00e9amas \u00d3 hEochaidh, <\/strong>1925-2006), former Taoiseach<\/strong> of Ireland.\u00a0 <\/span>You might be wondering, \u201cWhere\u2019s the [word for horse] capall<\/strong>?\u201d if the name means \u201chorseman.\u201d \u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s not part of this name, which is based on \u201ceach<\/strong>\u201d [akh], steed, a more literary word for \u201chorse\u201d and also a cognate of \u201cequus<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>\u00d3 hEochaidh <\/strong>is often spelled \u00d3 hEachaidh.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

N\u00f3ta\u00ed: athshondas athfhuaimneach<\/span><\/strong> [AH-HUN-duss AH-OO-im-nyakh], resounding resonance (sorry for the athluaiteachas<\/strong> (tautology, lit. \u201cre-referring\u201d) but I can\u2019t really find two different enough English words to be neamhathluaiteach<\/strong> (non-tautological) here for the translation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you may have figured out, based on the one English spelling above, these are all ways to either firmly request or circuitously insinuate that someone should be silent.\u00a0 We see yet another variation, \u201cwhist,\u201d in our Gaelic resource de la semaine, Mary Pat Kelly\u2019s Galway Bay.\u00a0 In one spelling or another, the word shows…<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","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=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}