Okay, a few people have asked me if I could provide a translation or glossary for the Irish phrases in this thing. So here follow excerpts from the story, followed by the translations.
So I can say Dia Dhuit and go raibh míle maith agat and slán leat and coladh sábh, but I don’t remember much more than that.”Clark can say hello (literally, God be with you), and thank you, and goodbye (safety go with you) and sleep well.
“Céad míle fáilte romhat!” she carolled.She’s welcoming them: literally, a hundred thousand welcomes to you.
“Thank you very much, Aisling,” he said politely.
“Beidh fáilte romhat,” she said perkilyYou’re welcome.
“Agus go n’éirí an bother leat.”Literally: may the road rise with you; figuratively, have a safe journey. This is part of a well-known Irish saying which goes something like: May the road rise with you (or ‘rise up to meet you’), and may you be safe home before the Devil knows you’ve left. (Sara, can you remember the exact saying?)
“Ciúin!”Silence
Ní dhéanfach an saol capall rás d'asal!”One of the weird Irish sayings which don’t appear to bear much relevance to modern life, but we make them work for their living anyway.
Literally: you can’t make a racehorse out of a donkey.
“Sara!” the druid yelled. “It’s not his fault, a mhuirnín! He didn’t know!”More or less: my dear one
“Irish for yes.” He waved his hand towards the arrangement of stones, and to Sara and her would-be boyfriend. “You know, all this reminds me of a saying Declan taught me... something like ‘is ait an mac a’saol, agus is mó cor agus iompair a bhaineann sé as duine ó bhais go bhás.’ Something like that, anyway.”As Clark says: life is strange, and it’s many a twist and turn it takes out of a person from birth to death.
The postscript for Sara:
Is fada an bóthar nach mbíonn casadh ann, agus níl aon suáilce gan a duáilce féin. Mair, a chapaill, agus gheobhaidh tú féar.There, I just slung together a few ‘nonsense’ proverbs, which she translated perfectly - did you visit the same proverbs website as I did, Sara?
It’s a long road which has no turning, and there are many mixed blessings in life. Live, horse, and you will get grass.
Edit: Completely forgot to translate the title!!
Póg mo thón means kiss my... butt. A popular Irish expression! And if anyone's ever heard of the pop group The Pogues, that's where their name comes from. <g>
Now, on to the phrases some people managed to cobble together in their comments.
(I’m impressed!)
Elena wrote:
Bíonn chuile dhuine lách go dtéann bó ina gharraí.Everyone is sociable until a cow invades his garden.
And here's a saying I'd have used in the story if I'd come across it in time:
Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat.
which means May the cat eat you, and may the devil eat the cat. Can just see Sara saying that to Superman! <g>
I think that’s it! And go raibh míle, míle maith agat go léir! (Thank you all very, very much!)
Wendy
