Ceann Eile

Fun Differences between English and Irish: You say ‘tomato’, ‘mo dhuine’ says ‘tráta’

   An breac sa bhainne, the fly in the ointment,

    (The trout in the milk)

An important step to learning another language is asking the question ‘How do you say this in…? Irish teacher and activist Colm O’Gara complains in his book  Mise of being plagued by a more colourful variant of that question.  Ba í an chéad cheist a chuiridís i gcónaí orm ( The first quetion they would always ask me was ) : “How would you Irish the two ends of a stick for me ?”.  It is fascinating and often amusing to compare how other languages express the same ideas and emotions but use totally different words, phrases, images, metaphors and proverbs to do so. Translating even ‘the two ends of a stick ‘ can prove sticky. In school Irish the word ‘ceann’ is mostly translated as ‘head’ but ‘ceann’ has many meanings including ‘end’ depending on usage and context. If we want to say ‘from one end of the village to another’ we use ‘ó ceann ceann an bhaile’. Google Translate fails miserably with Irish because it 'thinks' like a dictionary and selects the first listed meaning of words isolated from context. Let’s look at an example sentence with ‘ceann’ in it.

e.g. Nuair a bhí mo dhá cheann i dtalamh, dar liom go gcuala mé ceol píob i bhfad ar shiúl. Shil mé i dtús báire nach rabh ann ach aisling… from Rotha mór an tSaoil p.195

When my two were in, I feel like I gcuala pipe music far away. I thought initially that it was only a dream - Google Translate

Suggested translation: When I had my two feet (not heads) firmly planted on the ground, it seemed to me I could hear someone playing the bagpipes. At first I thought it was only an illusion…

 If you want to ‘think’ in Irish you must learn the ‘Irish Way’ of saying things and avoid the ‘dul an Bhearla’.

Here are a few helpful insights into the Irish ancestral mind.

Ní mór a mheabhrú, afách,  you must remember, however,…

Cherries for Grapes

Silíní searbha, for sour grapes

Cat for Dog

Dog’s-ear, cluaisín cait.      cluaisín , little ear, lobe, tab, tag,

West-east  for back to front

Back to front, taobh thiar aniar.   (West, thiar: East, aniar)

Rub for Tear

Wear and tear, caitheamh agus cumuilt

In Irish ‘foghlaim’ can mean both ‘learn’ and ‘teach’

‘Learn’ and ‘teach’ are two different verbs in English.

Confusing one with the other is often used in a fun context:

 e.g ‘He learned me all  that I know’ might bring a smile to a native English speaker and also the thought that the speaker still had more to learn about correct English.

But in Irish you can ‘rud a fhoghlaim do dhuine’ .

Is breá an foghlaim a thug tú dó, You taught him well; What a fine thing you taught him! (with a sense of irony)

Tá a fhoghlaim déanta aige, he has learned his trade, he is experienced.

He is well-educated.

Tá foghlaim air, it has to be learned.

Chuir mé romhainn an teanga a fhoghlaim.

I set myself the task of learning the language.

You can even ‘foghlaim an bás’ in Irish, a way of saying s.o. is dying!

In Irish you need only promise the ‘sun’ and ‘moon’. The ‘stars’ are ignored.

Ach ní raibh gar dó a bheith ag labhairt, a gheall an ghrian agus an ghealach di.

But it was no use him talking, promising her the sun and the moon.

Bhí sé sin rud gar! ‘That was a near thing’ is an expression in English meaning a ‘close escape’.  Irish has a number of ways to use ‘gar’ including this one:

Tá sé an-ghar dó féin.

In school Irish this could well be translated nonsensically as, ‘He is very near to himself’.  But if you know some other meanings of ‘gar’ then this sentence makes a lot more sense. ‘Gar’ can also mean ‘convenience’ , use, service, good turn, favour, ‘mean’, ‘stingy’,  etc.

‘He is very selfish’ is Ó Dónaill’s translation of ‘Tá sé an-ghar dó féin’. 

Think also of ‘self-interest’.

Cad é an gar! What’s the use!  

 Exaggeration is part of the Irish psyche.

Tá dhá croí uirthi. (lit. There are two hearts on her)

She is over the moon. (Here English also tending toward exaggeration!)

Lie for stand

it stands to reason         luíonn sé le ciall  (lit. It lies with sense)

In for out

Ní raibh mí Lúnasa istigh nuair a fuarthas an dara corp.

Before the month of August was out a second body was found

Under for up

Faoi shoilse, lit up

Down up for up down

Tá an áit síos suas acu, they have the place turned upside down

Back of the world for face of the earth

Dá bhfeicfeá in aon áit ar dhroim an domhain mhóir é, d’aithneofá gur Sasanach a bhí ann.

 No matter where in the wide world you might see him, you would know he was English

Cheek for head

De leiceann, by a short head (horse race)

Offence for an eye

Cion sa chion, (offence for offence) an eye for an eye, tit fot tat,

Centre  for bottom of heart

Ó cheartlár mo chrío, from the bottom of my heart

Head for heart

Ghoil sí uisce a cinn, she cried her heart out.

Head for end

Rachaidh sé ó cheann ceann na tíre chuig imeachtaí cultúir agus ealaíne

Head for back

Ag caint orm ar chúl mo chinn, talking behind my back

Irish puts death before life!

Cursaí báis(death) is beatha (life) Matters of life and death

Soul for life

Dá mbeadh m’anam air, if my life depended on it

Thug sé a anam slán leis, he escaped with his life (i.e. unharmed)

Irish puts smooth before rough!

mín agus garbha, the rough and the smooth

Black for blue

Tá dath na ndaol air( le fuacht), he is blue from the cold

Daol, m. Black beetle

Leaf for hat

Coinnigh faoin duilleog é, keep it under your hat, (i.e. secret) 

                          (leaf)

Or

Backteeth for mouth shut

Coinnigh an méid sin faoi do chúlfhiacla, keep your mouth shut abot that!

Road for stream

Bhí bóithre fola, allais, leis,  he was streaming blood, sweat

Road for possession, on (her) person

Bhí céad punt ina bóthar, she had a hundred pounds in her possession.

Teeth for face

Abair lena dhraid é, tell it to his face (lit. Teeth, open mouth)

Eyes melting for mouth watering

Nuair a fheiceas duine bia nua, go háirithe, má bhíonn confadh ocrais air, bíonn a shúile ar leá chuige.

When people see fresh food, especially if they are ravenously hungry, it tends to make their mouths water.

from Béal Beo p. 197

Belly for Back

Ar a tharr in airde, lying on his back.

        (Belly up)

If you want to really know how to ‘think’, understand and speak in a natural Irish way, níl an dara dul suas agat ach, you have no alternative but to learn and add to the above store of phrases. Beir Bua!