ThursdayNext : www.jasperfforde.com
A discussion of all things Thursday !
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:06PM
<HTML>Yes, "whisky" is Gaelic, but the Irish version is, of course, "whiskey", and it is the preferred tipple of Wilfred the penguin.
A very quick lesson for you, Twila! Repeat after me:
"Is Meiriceanach me"
(sorry, I'm still having the accent bug problem - there should be acute accents over the first a in the second word and the e in the third)
Got that? Right. It means "I am American". There, now you can show off to all these people who try to catch you out on the Gaelic ;-).</HTML>
A very quick lesson for you, Twila! Repeat after me:
"Is Meiriceanach me"
(sorry, I'm still having the accent bug problem - there should be acute accents over the first a in the second word and the e in the third)
Got that? Right. It means "I am American". There, now you can show off to all these people who try to catch you out on the Gaelic ;-).</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:07PM
<HTML>There is no word in Irish equivalent to ______. If Irish people want to swear, they have to do it in English. I think that explains a great deal, myself.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:11PM
<HTML>Ummm... actually, having had a husband who was into the Pogues, I can assure you that there _are_ Irish swear words... *blush*</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:17PM
<HTML>Oh, yeah, Shane McGowan swearing sounds like Irish, right enough, but it's actually just Gibberish.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:17PM
<HTML>Okay, Sarah, now how the bleep do I go about pronouncing that!? And wouldn't it be easier to say "Yo, I'm an American", as most people in Ireland actually understand English? [wink] Besides, I'd probably muff the pronunciation so badly that I'd become the village joke and would be written about in bawdy limericks for eons to come.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:19PM
<HTML>Jon, I think Shane McGowan's "Irish swearing" is due to the copious amounts of alcohol consumed. Mix that with a bad temper, and there ya go!</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:20PM
<HTML>ish mary-conna-ach may, approximately, making sure to gob good and hard on the 'ach'.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:21PM
<HTML>you mean, sufficient amounts of phlem need to be produced to create the desired sound? LOL</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:21PM
<HTML>Of course gobbing good and hard is the one bit of Gaelic McGowan can handle.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:21PM
<HTML>It's just for the benefit of people online. You don't have to pronounce it, just spell it. By all means say "Yo, I'm an American," although once you'd got as far as "yo" I suspect the rest of the sentence would be unnecessary. ;-)
Minsky has helpfully offered to teach you some basic Cat, but I had to remind him you don't have either a tail or whiskers. Besides, I'm sure if you wanted to learn, you have teachers closer at hand...</HTML>
Minsky has helpfully offered to teach you some basic Cat, but I had to remind him you don't have either a tail or whiskers. Besides, I'm sure if you wanted to learn, you have teachers closer at hand...</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:23PM
<HTML>Yup, phlegm and Celtic languages go together like, erm, Guinness and falling down ...</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:24PM
<HTML>I took a semester of Russian (just enough to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and a couple of words) so I think I can handle the phlem aspect. I also know smatterings of French - 2.5 years of high school level- and Spanish. (enough to listen to Ricky Martin properly LOL and speak to the fast food employees here-we're a magnet for new arrivals from Central America) Still can't roll my "RRRRs" to save my life though!</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:25PM
<HTML>So how is it you speak Irish, Jon? I'm impressed!</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:27PM
<HTML>Oh yes, I'm nearly fluent in Catmerican. But thanks Minsky! I'm even teaching Scootie to speak English! He calls me Maaahm-ma and says "don't be so bloody cheeky!" (he uses that one a lot)</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:27PM
<HTML>I can roll my Rs, but it causes me to fall over if I try it while walking.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:29PM
<HTML>Well, as long as you know your Rs from your Everton, I don't mind...</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:30PM
<HTML>Being of Irish descent myself I did try to learn Gaelic once, and sufficient of it has stuck to know roughly how to pronounce things. Also, I studied Irish history extensively (as a reaction to not being taught it at school despite the school population being about 85% of Irish origin). A few holidays in the Ould Country helped as well. Slainte mhath.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:32PM
<HTML>Cool! I'm not Irish, but quite a lot of my friends are (an inescapable side-effect of being a Catholic). It's a wonderful language.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:33PM
<HTML>Yes, I have walked down South Africa Road. And seen Stan Bowles play. Sorry, Twila, but if you really want to get the British thing, you're gonna hafta like soccer. And call it football, as well.</HTML>
Re: The town planning of the gods....
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: December 10, 2002 08:38PM
<HTML>Note for baffled Americans: "The Rs" = QPR = Queens Park Rangers, a football team once great but currently sadly languishing in the second division. (At least they're in the upper reaches of it.) "Everton" = another football team chosen for humorous effect. "Manchester United" = a football team to avoid supporting at all costs, because nobody apart from their own fans can stand them. Any further information is available, probably at great length, from me or Jon.</HTML>
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