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This the latest dispatch from our columnist Darach Ó Séaghdha, author of the award-winning and bestselling Motherfoclóir. Every Sunday morning, Darach will be regaling (re-Gaeling?) us with insights on what the Irish language says about Ireland, our society, our past and our present. Enjoy.
AS SAMHAIN RECEDES into Mí na Nollag, I am reminded of the Swedish saying ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes’.
Granted the charms of cold and rain aren’t as obvious as those of sunshine and heat, but there’s much to enjoy in December beyond the Christmas break.
Dark nights, frosty mornings, seeing your breath in front of you, end of year top-ten lists and the underrated comforts of hot alcoholic drinks.
If you’re a grinch like me, you can still enjoy December; all you need are the right clothes and the right Irish words.
Codladh Geimhridh: Literally ‘winter sleep’, this is the Irish for hibernation.
The Romans called Ireland the Land of Eternal Winter (Hibernia), which is really saying something when you consider that they had a word for Scotland and other colder places. Arguably this was more a comment on our miserable summers than our mild winters.
Fuar: I’m sure you know this one, the Irish word for cold. It sounds a lot like the past tense of the verb to get. For example, ‘fuair sé cic sa thóin’ – he got a kick in the bottom.
Siocán: Not to be confused with síocháin (peace), this word means frost. The turn of phrase ‘ní lugha orm an sioc ná é’ means “I hate him more than I hate frost”.
Siocdhóite is the Irish for frostbitten, it translates literally as frost-burnt.
Staga: This means a potato damaged by frost. It is just one of several highly specific words for bad potatoes, some of which can also be used as insults for people.
These include
Sliomach: An inedible potato or a useless person and
Stagún: A damaged potato or very stubborn person.
Aimliú: The potatoes referred to above might also fall under this category. There is no direct equivalent for this word in English – it means ruined by exposure to rain, frost, wind or other atmospheric phenomena.
Buatais Bháistí: This alluringly alliterative term is the Irish for a welly, the perfect footwear for the season – it translates literally as rain boot.
The wellington boot is named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, the Irish-born first Duke of Wellington. However, the duke was deeply ashamed of his Irish birth – when it was brought up to embarrass him at parties in 19th century London high society, he’d famously reply: “Being born in a stable does not make one a horse”.
Ceirtlín: As the rain pelts against the window, it’s the right time for thick, woollen clothes and wholesome crafty hobbies like knitting.
While liathróid is the go-to word for a ball, ceirtlín is the word used for balls of wool, thread, yarn and the like. It is also the word used for a curled-up hedgehog.
Lómhar: An appropriate double-meaning in the wintertime, this recherché word can mean either woolly or precious.
Though both woolly and precious have more frequently-used terms in Irish (olanda and luachmar respectively), but I’ll be thinking of lómhar when I wrap my daughter up warmly before we go for a winter walk.
Darach’s new book, ‘Craic Baby: Dispatches From A Rising Language’ is published by Head of Zeus and available in bookshops now.
He runs @theirishfor Twitter account and the @motherfocloir podcast.
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Thanks. This is really going to help me with the book I’m writing… “Sheila’s Feeling for Spuds”.
@Paraic: if an English person said that I’d consider it discrimination. Grow up!
@Paraic: Murphy’s? lol.
There is no evidence that Wellington ever said that but it was said about him. The most famous person to say it was Daniel O’Connell rejecting that Wellington was representative of the Irish people. Also he was not ‘deeply ashamed’ to have been born in Ireland. He considered himself and his family to be representative of the British in Ireland. He did call us a ‘nation of scoundrels’ and was convinced that the native Irish would never be loyal to the crown (correctly).
I spent 12 years in school where I was taught to detest Irish because first I had a Leinster accent and not a Munster one.Then a Munster one not a Leinster one.All because the teachers changed. I dreaded Irish and learned fear because of the snobbery surrounding our native tongue.
A few years ago I passed through a gaeltacht town and stopped for a meal. I made no attempt to speak Irish. A man from Dublin did.When he left the bar,the bar staff took the mickey out of his accent.
Nothing had changed.
I speak French and reasonable Italian.
I learned those languages because I was taught by people who were delighted that someone made an effort to learn their language.
That attitude is what is needed of Irish is to survive.
Potatoe-based insults now that is some shade!
I think you forgot dubhluchar, the darkness of winter days.
The Irish for “government’ is ” arseways”.
Actually, the nights will start to get longer in a few weeks, it’s the mornings that continue to darken until early to mid January!
We’re reading these at a candle lit dinner table. Lovely :)
Only irish i can remember when it was beaten into us was Feich as mo radhairc.
The quote about Wellington is, I believe, misattributed. I believe Daniel O’Connell said it about Wellington.
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