Is é do lá fómhar é,* It’s your lucky day!
Don’t just be a St. Patrick’s week ‘Gaeilgeoir’! Become an all-year-round-bi-lingualist by using short Irish colloquial geetings, exclamations, encouragements, congratulations, humourous sayings, etc. Here are a few to get you going and annoy your friends with the ‘breacaireacht Ghaeilge’ (smattering of Irish) you have.
Let’s start off with a couple of words every Irish school kid should know but never perhaps realized that ‘cailc’ (chalk) could have other interesting meanings and uses.
An spéir an chailc! The sky’s the limit!
Cuir cailc leat féin! Control yourself!
(Drink buddy or sexual caution situation)
Praise is always good! Be positive in Irish!
Go deo thú!
Good for you!
As go deo leat!
Off you go!
Irony in Irish
Tá mórán éirimí aige, he is very versatile éirim oibre, aptitude for work
Is mór is fiú …, it’s just as well
Despair in Irish
Is beag is fiú punt anois, a pound is worth little now
Phrase For Panic Situations:
Faichill a thóna féin ar gach fear, every man for himself (lit. Every man mind/take care of his own arse)
For back-seat drivers on the way to Paddy’s parade:
Comhairle uaimse duit, let me give you some advice
Tiomáin go faichill, drive carefully
Is fada a bhíonn ag smaoineamh air, I wouldn’t dream of doing it
Or:
Is lag lom é a dhéanamh, I am loathe to do it
Saor agus fóir sinn ó olc, save and deliver us from evil
After the car crashes:
Níl ann ach gránú, it’s only a scratch.
Is fada as! Far from it!
Good for St. Patrick’s Day masked balls:
Thug mé tuarim aithne dó, I guessed his identity
Níl tú ach ag caitheamh tuarimí, you are only guessing/speculating
Tá na seacht n-aithne agam air, I know him only too well. (Intimately)
And if you’re feeling confused at the end of the St. Patrick's day festivities:
Cén lá den tseachtain é?, what day of the week is it?
*The meaning of Fómhar is most often associated with the months and season of autumn i.e. Fómhar( autumn) and méan Fómhar (September).
If we translate the phrase word-for-word we get ’It is your September day!’. The chain of events leading to the translation ‘lucky day’ could go something like this:
‘Fómhar’ also means ‘harvest time’, leading to other meanings and connotations like ‘reaping rewards’, ‘season of plenty’, ‘bumper year’, etc. Luck plays a part in a good harvest and so we eventually arrive at ‘It’s your lucky day!’ (Is é do lá fómhar é!)
Try your hand at this way of tracking word-meanings with the English words ‘wind-fall’ and let's see what you come up with.
Rud saor in aisce/Free Stuff
Type in any of these Irish Phrases on the free app at www.abair.ie and hear how a maschine posing as a ‘cainteoir ó dhúchas’ (native speaker) might utter the above ‘cúpla focal’.
You can also download the recording of the phrases entered for repeated listenings on your computer or mobile phone.
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