Oops.... a language story

OK.... in order to understand this story you have to know a bit of the background. I have been feeling a bit off all week. I feel like I am fighting a head cold. We were coming out of a local coffee shop where for the last two hours we had sat with a friend and had a great conversation all in Irish. I was feeling a bit better and was really encouraged by our time using the language. Dee and I walked down the street to our car talking about lunch when from across the street we heard a woman yelling to us in Irish. It was not much just a quick sentence that I didn't hear really well. We arrived at the car the exact moment that she started yelling at us. Dee didn't see the car and kept walking while I paused for a second and responded to the lady and then called Dee back to the car. This all happened so quickly that when I got into the car I didn't really know what I had said to the lady. I had just responded in Irish without thinking about it in English. I asked Dee what she said, and Dee said that she thought it was something about how crazy the weather had been, and it is a good thing that there are so many ways to describe it in Irish. But that is not what I heard. In the midst of the moment I got pieces of what she said... and I connected the dots.... all I heard was her say something about "good Irish". In the split second this all happened I thought that she had overheard us talking in Irish in the coffee shop and was impressed with our "good Irish"... so what did I yell back to her in response to her comment about the weather? "Thanks, I think that we are improving!"

Today's Random Pic....

"A sign from God...?

or clever marketing technique...?"

More Fun With Irish...

So... in this process of language learning I occasionally make mistakes. Here are a few more that I have had fun making:


Recently I was shaking hands with a new teacher. I wanted to say, "It is nice to meet you", but I really said, "It is nice to beat you up". The man - who is in his 70's laughed and told he that he hoped not.


Recently while in a class the term "Snag Ceol" was used. In English the term "snog" means to kiss or 'make out'. Ceol is the word for music. So, I did the math and without thinking said out loud "makout music?". I now know that it means Jazz.

Sprát

As you may know… we are learning to speak Irish Gaelic. Well… we are now well to the point where we spend a good portion of our day speaking Irish. This does not always go as easily as we would wish. Here are a couple of fun language mistakes I made today: ;)

We were hanging out with a friend at our house, and we were talking about people’s names. I have a real hard time with some of the Irish names – especially the last names. As we were talking, I constantly kept mixing up the word “ainmhe” (pronounced ann-na-vee) which means animals with the word “ainmneachaí” (pronounced ann-na-ma-kree) the word for names. I don’t know how many times I said something like, “I have the hardest time with Irish animals” or “I can never pronounce Irish animals” or “In America we knew a few people with funny animals”. Our friend graciously just kept on laughing and helping me out of my mistake.

Later in the day, I went to a local shop for some milk. While there I ran into a local man who is an expert fisherman. We spoke in Irish about fishing and my lack of knowledge about saltwater fishing. I asked him to help me pick out something that would be useful for when the macrael run later this summer (a time when the schools of fish come so close to the shore that you can reach out and catch them with your bare hands). The man told me (in Irish) to reach up on the shelf and get a “Sprát”. I instantly knew that I did not know that Irish word…. But my mind kept racing…. “Sprát…. Sprát………. Ceard é sprát….?” My mind was blank. I looked at the shelves to try and solve the mystery but the labels were no help. I asked him in Irish “what is a sprat?” and he simply repeated the word “sprat” three or four times each time getting louder and slower. I asked him what it was in English, and he simply replied “SsssssssPpppppRrrrrrrrrAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaT” in a slow motion manner! There for a moment I felt like I was in some version of the movie ‘groundhog day’! I stood there in shock and confusement for a moment before he said in English “those silvery German sprats on the top shelf”. I picked a fancy silvery lore off of the self, and my friend said, “Now sure… that is a sprat”! I still am not sure what a sprat really is… but I don’t think that I will ask again.

Talamh an Éisc / Land of the Fish

Talamh an Éisc is the land some 1800 miles to the west of Ireland is sometimes better known by it's English name: Newfoundland, Canada. Talamh an Éiscis or the fishing ground is the only place outside Europe with its own distinctive name in the Irish language. Now - you might be thinking, "big deal". Well... It is a big deal. It has been described as the most Irish place in the world outside of Ireland. Irish settlers first came to this land in the early 1500's, and they have left a heritage of culture that is distinctively Irish. The Irish brought their surnames and place names, their Gaelic games (which later created ice hockey), their folklore, music, and religion.... but most importantly their language. This language is still alive in this area of Canada, and as of June 16th, 2007 the Canadian Government has established an official Gaeltacht (any region where the government recognizes that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home). This Gaeltacht is the only Gaeltacht to be recognized outside of Ireland. It is now known as Gaeltacht Bhuan Mheiriceá Thuaidh (or the Permanent North American Gaeltacht).

Irish Words...

This post is just a FYI post. I thought that you might like to see about a few more words that we would use in English that have come from Irish Gaelic.

A shenanigan is a deceitful trick, or to do something as simply as an act of mischief. The word originates from the Irish Gaelic sionnachuighim, meaning "I play the fox." As you know, foxes are a constant annoyance to farmers and rubbish men... Both of which have to defend their flocks or bags (as the case may be) from these mischievous creatures that often do things for no apparent reason other than for the fun of it.

A hooligan is someone who causes great disturbances or a creates havoc as a result of celebration or as a retaliation. In Europe hooligans usually are associated with soccer clubs/matches and are considered to be a great threat to others after or during a sporting event. It is not clear where the word originated, but the most popular theory (to me at least) is that it's based on an Irish Gaelic word, Hooley, which means a wild, spirited party.