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B’fheidir “hooray?” http://www.irishdictionary.ie/dictionary
Tuigim anois! Go raibh maith agat, a Lughaidh!
Any reason this word would have been excluded from the dictionaries that I looked at?
Besides the link I showed above, http://www.irishdictionary.ie, here’s another source that indicates that abú also means “”hooray” (to victory): http://www.irelandabu.ie/. Quoting that source: “abú” is particularly used within the GAA (Gaelic games) to show support for your county team and is an Irish word that is very much ‘alive’ in parts of the country.”
I don’t mean to offend any of the traditionalists here, but is it possible that the postings that Séril is seeing on Facebook are using abú to mean “hooray” and that it’s a recent development in the meaning of the word, as described above?
From Irish Gaelic Translator, I found this discussion, http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/translation/topic71438.html ,which also indicates that abú means “hooray.”
abú is something you put after a word to encourage it, or say something like hooray for… etc…
na cailíní = the girls
na cailíní abú! – would be something along the lines of ‘come on the girls’, ‘up the girls’, ‘horray for the girls’ and so on…
http://www.potafocal.com/Metasearch.aspx?Text=abú&GotoID=focloirbeag
abú [intriacht]
gáir mhaíte.It is an interjection and “hooray” is probably the closest English equivalent: but it needs to be applied to something), you couldn’t use it on its own as you could hooray.
Dictionaries often skip this kind of tricky thing!
I have seen it used as a battle cry for armies. So I don’t think it is just something an audience member would shout, but also something a member of the team/army would say to urge their group on.
Like “Onward to Victory!”
That is true: it is also common in Irish versions of family mottoes.
I haven’t been able to find anything in DIL.
Dinneen suggests:
{interjection}, to victory! {perhaps} {abbreviation} for GO BUAIDH. Used in battle-cries, as CROM ABÚ! LÁMH DHEARG ABÚ!
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