Idioms

[Aislingeach]

Is there an Irish idiom that corresponds to the English “sick and tired” or “fed up”? How would one express that concept in Irish?

GRMA

[Lughaidh]

“Fed up” is “dubh dòite” in Irish.
eg. “Tà mè dubh dòite dò sin”

[Aislingeach]

“Fed up” is “dubh dòite” in Irish.
eg. “Tà mè dubh dòite dò sin”

GRMA, a Lughaidh. I maith liom sin! Ach, níl mé cinnte tuigim “dó sin”…….

[Lughaidh]

Tá = am, are, is
mé = I
dubh = black
dóite = burnt
dó sin = of that, from that (I guess it’s “de sin” in standard Irish)

In English you’re fed up with something, but in Irish you’re fed up (or rather black-burnt) of or from something 🙂

[Dáithí]

sick and tired: tinn tuirseach

See this previous thread for an interesting discussion of when “agus” is omitted with two adjectives, such as with tinn tuirseach:

http://www.daltai.com/discus/messages/13510/49961.html?1261147962

[Aislingeach]

dó sin = of that, from that (I guess it’s “de sin” in standard Irish)

Tuigim anois. I was reading “for that” and it wasn’t making sense to me. I didn’t know “dó” could mean of, or from

sick and tired: tinn tuirseach

I actually thought about that, but I didn’t know if it would be taken too literally. I did know about omitting the “and” but I will definitely check out the thread. Discussions here are always interesting!

GRMMA as an gcabhair, a chairde! 🙂

[aonghus]

dó sin = of that, from that (I guess it’s “de sin” in standard Irish)

Táim cinnte de sin! (ach “dó sin” a deirim)

Ceann eile: “bréan bailithe de sin”

[Lughaidh]

Yes, for some reason, in standard Irish they have a preposition “de” to say “from/off” and a preposition “do” to say “for, to” etc. But in all dialects (except maybe West Cork), people say “do” for both.
However, many dialects do keep a distinction in the prepositional pronouns (díom, díot etc vs. dom, duit, etc).

ie. they say “tá mé dubh dóite don rud sin” but “tá mé dubh dóite d(h)íot/d(h)e/d(h)i/d(h)íbh/d(h)íobh”…

In Northern Donegal, as far as I know, “do” is used in all cases and “de” and all its forms have completely disappeared, ie. tá mé dubh dóite don rud sin, dubh dóite duit, dó, daoithe, daoibh, daofa.

[Aislingeach]

Táim cinnte de sin! (ach “dó sin” a deirim)

😆 That made me laugh! I’m glad Lent is over; I’ve missed your wit. I’ve added “bréan bailithe de sin” to my list, GRMA

Yes, for some reason, in standard Irish they have a preposition “de” to say “from/off” and a preposition “do” to say “for, to” etc. But in all dialects (except maybe West Cork), people say “do” for both.
However, many dialects do keep a distinction in the prepositional pronouns (díom, díot etc vs. dom, duit, etc).
ie. they say “tá mé dubh dóite don rud sin” but “tá mé dubh dóite d(h)íot/d(h)e/d(h)i/d(h)íbh/d(h)íobh”…

Good to know, TYI has “de” for from/of.

I wonder why there is a distinction in the prepositional pronouns when “do” is used for both. That’s interesting. Do you know why that is?

[Lughaidh]

I wonder why there is a distinction in the prepositional pronouns when “do” is used for both. That’s interesting. Do you know why that is?

because there are two very short prepositions that sound a bit the same way. Even in Old Irish, people had begun to mix them up. Sometimes, English speakers mix up “of” and “off” too, it’s kinda the same thing.

[Aislingeach]

So everyone started out with both de and do (and their respective prepositional pronoun conjugations, of course), but over time, de just kind of morphed into do, leaving just the different prepositional pronouns intact? Except that in Northern Donegal even those are gone?

[Wee_Falorie_Man]

Here is some pure speculation for ya:

There was once a definite distinction between “from” (de) and “to” (do) in the Irish language but this distinction was eventually lost (mostly); so now, none of the modern dialects retain this distinction except in West Cork (Múscraí Irish).

This distinction was adopted by “standard” Irish, not because of any love for the dialect of Múscraí, but because it “matches” English.

That’s what I think, but like I said, I’m only speculating.

[Aislingeach]

A WFM, that’s how I’m understanding it. Except for the “matching English” part. What does English have to do with it?

Btw, I ordered Séadna and its CDs the other day. I wanted to get more, but the kids are so picky about eating every day! The book will be my reward for doing TYI, and in the meantime, I can listen to the CDs and work on my pronunciation when I’m all “grammared out.” Thanks again for the list of selections. 🙂

[Wee_Falorie_Man]

A Aislingeach,

I know exactly what you mean – my family is equally unreasonable! As I once mentioned, I worked through Teach Yourself Irish last summer, but I forgot almost half of everything I allegedly learnt, so I’m working through it again more slowly and carefully this time. If all goes well, I should be done by the end of the this month. Then I am planning on reading Séadna (as per the instructions of Dillon and Ó Cróinín) starting on May 1st. Something tells me there will soon be a thread with questions about Séadna …

[Lughaidh]

So everyone started out with both de and do (and their respective prepositional pronoun conjugations, of course), but over time, de just kind of morphed into do, leaving just the different prepositional pronouns intact? Except that in Northern Donegal even those are gone?

yeah I think so.

[Author]

Posts