Tips On How To Talk To Animals In Irish

Appeler un chat un chat, to call a spade a spade       -  French saying
(Lit. to call a cat a cat)

I always find it fascinating to learn how different cultures incorporate their observations of nature and animals to create often unique proverbs and sayings. The Irish language is a rich source of striking and amusing sayings involving animals, birds, fish and other living creatures.

Respect the Animals
If you meet an Irish speaking farmer and wish to talk about or praise an animal you must always add the  blessing 'Bail Ó Dhia uirthi'.  It is thought that  bad luck ( the evil eye,'drochshúil' ) could befall the animal if 'God preserve her'  ('Bail Ó Dhia uirthi)  is omitted from the conversation about a cow or livestock on the farm.
But if you see a dog in the window of a farmhouse it could be a clue that their is some trickery afoot: 'ag cur madraí ar fhuineoga (lit. putting dogs in windows) is an expression in Irish that means you are bluffing or trying to hoodwink a person. The saying could derive from trying to trick thieves into believing that if the faithful farmer's dog is home then his master is most likely at home too.

Teith! Teith! Call to Cows
Teith as sin! Come/Get back from there! 
Teith : to flee
Useful Irish phrase when calling to a calf or cow approaching your car on a lonely Irish country road.

 'Tseo! 'Tseo! Call to Dogs
Shout a loud 'Tseo! 'Tseo! when you want to 'Shoo! Shoo!' your Irish speaking neighbour's dog out of your house!

 Tórach!Tórach! Call to Bulls
 If you see a 'tarbh dásachtach' (raging bull) it might be a wise idea not to call it over for a chat in Irish. If there are sheep grazing about the field you might like to call them away with the word  'Seabhainín' as you run for safety.

Perhaps 'Tórach' stems from the verb  'tóir' ( to chase, pursue) and is more of a warning to a person that a bull is in hot pursuit!

Know your Birds
You might think that the black raven was being rude to you when he sticks out his tongue, but actually, it is just  his way of communicating to you that it is an extremely hot day

Lá a mbeadh an fiach dubh ag cur amach a theanga, (Lit. a day that would make a black raven stick out his tongue) i.e. an exceedingly hot day

The raven and the grey crow are at odds with each other in the following Irish saying:

D'inis fiach é agus shéan feannóg é, (Lit. The raven says so but the grey crow denies it)
i.e. there are conflicting reports about it

Terms of Endearment
Should you find you're lost for Irish words of love, here are some useful titbits :

Mo lao thú! My Darling!
Smóilín! Little Darling 

Cautionary Note!  Should your  loved one ask what these Irish outbursts mean, do not translate the above lovey-dovey Irish expressions literally. Few English speakers would appreciate the nuances involved in  being addressed as  'You're my calf'(Mo lao thú!) or 'My Thrush! ('Smóilín!)
They might even think you were a 'speig neanta' ( 'a hairy caterpillar' ) or malicious person!

You might cast sheep's eyes at someone when you are lost in love in English. However, when besotted by love in Irish, people might notice that you are casting a wagtail's eye (súil na glasóige a chaitheamh ar dhuine) at the object of your infatuation - your 'beanchealgaire' seductive woman, siren

In love you become a 'glasóg' (wagtail),  or 'gullible person'

If a person is too clinging in love you might hear the following expression involving a 'limpit' rather than 'a leech'.

Ghreamaigh sé dom mar a bheidh bairneach( limpit) ann, he stuck to me like a leech

We get 'butterflies' in the stomach when we are nervous in English, but in Irish we have an expression that literally means 'to knock the butterflies out of someone':

Na féileacháin (butterflies) a bhrú as duine, to crush someone 

I might add that having the butterflies knocked out of you does not relieve your anxiety in Irish or English!

A Bit Fishy
In English, when we say there's a fly in the ointment, we know we have a problem. But you won't catch an Irish speaker talking about flies in that way, no, Irish speakers know that the situation is grave when they hear the words 'Tá an breac sa bainne' or 'the trout is in the milk'. How it got there is another problem!

While trout might be associated with problems, salmon are associated with health and wisdom.
In proposing a toast in Irish you could try this mouthful about salmon:

Sláinte an bhradáin agat, croí folláin agus gob fliuch. (May you have the healthy heart and wet mouth of a salmon)      from  An Béal Beo  p. 82

Well we know that in French calling a cat a cat really means you are calling a spade a spade, so we'll add to that confusion with an Irish cat phrase. This one sums up succinctly that what has been said, done or written is all damned nonsense, i.e. 'Tuar cait is féasóg air! (Lit. Cat shit with whiskers).  In English, we single out a different animal to produce the load of 'codswallop' and conclude that 'It's all bullshit!'

If you have time on your hand or in Irish 'lá faoi tor' (lit. a day under the bush) you might like to try figure out the meaning of the following Irish phrases from their literal translations:

'Na bí do lámh i mbéal an mhadra,' don't put your hand in the dog's mouth
'Giorra a chur ina shuí,' to make a hare sit up
'Muc i mála', a pig in a bag
'An cearc a dhíol lá na báistí, to sell the hen on a rainy day

Ádh mór! Good Luck!

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.

Bananas Lost In Translation

POLONIUS

What are you reading, your highness?

HAMLET

Words, words, words.

In my training as a translator I was taught that words matter and that you have to account for the meaning of every word in a sentence. This instuction did not mean that you had to translate word for word. It meant you had to convey as much as possible all the bits of infomation implied or expressed by the words within the given text. Irene Duffy grappled with  some unique challenges in translating into Irish  Amongst Women by John McGahern. On the back cover of the Irish version Idir Mhná we are told that the translator is simply translating McGahern’s English back into Irish from which it originated (...tá sí ag aistriú ‘ar ais’ go dtí an teanga dhúchais ónar síolraíodh é.) Faced with metaphors in a literary text the task of the translator is usually to try and find like-for-like metaphors or failing that to use a simile or reduce the metaphor to its sense. But in Amongst Women McGahern and his characters talk English with a heavy Irish influence which often results in quirky English sentences or expressions but these same sentences when translated ‘back’ into Irish turn out to be just everyday Irish idioms or an Irish way of saying things.

Here are some examples from the novel Amongst Women/Idir Mhná : 

Moran (Main character) - ‘I’d throw it in their teeth,’ is Moran’s angry reaction to the suggestion that he could still claim an IRA pension.  In English we usually throw something in someone’s ‘face’ rather than their ‘teeth’ so this utterance might strike mother tongue English speakers as a strange or novel expression. But Moran is just translating word-for-word the Irish expression  ‘chaithfinn sé suas lena bhfiacla é’ ( I’d throw it up to their teeth).  

Moran - ‘... it’s time for me to beat away’. Here you can see Moran has muddled into his English usage the translation of the Irish verb ‘Buail‘ (beat, hit, strike, etc) which is often used in the context of ‘Buail an bóthar’ ‘to hit the road’ .  In Idir Mhná  the translator simply ‘corrects’ the original and interprets  ‘to beat away’ as meaning ‘to leave’ : ‘tá sé in am dom bheith ag imeacht liom’.

Other characters in the book show the same tendencies to transfer Irish expressions and words into their English usage.

Maggie - ‘They say she’s wild after him,’ ‘Deirtear go bhfuil sí splanctha ina dhiadh.

Rose’s mother - ‘They say he’s no ornament,’ ‘Deirtear nach aon mhaise é siud’

Moran’s brother -’I got broke down.’ Theip ar an ngluaisteán’ 

‘You’ll have to shape up, Daddy.’ 

‘Chaithfidh tú feabhas a chur ort féin. a Dhaidí’

Here the translator could have used the same expression in Irish:

cruth a chur ort, to shape up

It's never a dull task but always a difficult one for a translator to find ways and words to deal with metaphors. Here are a couple of sayings from  Amongst Women/Idir Mhná :

‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, 

becomes in the Irish version:

‘Is iomaí lá ag an uaigh orainn.’ p. 113, p.76 (Lit. We'll be many a day in the grave')

'nick of time',  becomes 'ar an nóiméad tráthúil' (the opportune moment)

'live and let live' - 'ceart dom ceart duit' (You're right, I'm right)

McGahern's narrative throughout the book is also influenced by the Irish language and his English often hints at non-native usage:

 'black with people' is a literal translation from the Irish of 'dubh le daoine' but for some reason the translator ignores this and goes instead with 'plodaithe le daoine' (crowded with people)

and again:

'Rose put down a big fire' which is the way an Irish speaker using the verb 'cur síos' (to put down) would say it.

English speakers might 'put out' a fire but would more likely  'make' or 'light' a fire.

The translator opted once again to ignore a chance to do a word-for-word translation and rendered it as 'Las Róise tine mhór. (Rose lit a big fire)  p.124

'a bit of a fling' is rendered as 'ceol a bhaint as an saol' (Lit. to draw music from life)

The translator is lost for words when dealing with the phrase 'that sounds bananas to me' and is left with no choice but to convey the sense of a nonsensical saying:

'Ceapaim go bhfuil sé sin seafóideach' (I think that's nonsense/silly)

I enjoyed reading Amongst Women years ago and am grateful to Irene Duffy for the opportunity she gave me to enjoy once again Idir Mhná in her excellent translation.