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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Eedjit: are you one?

 


My father-in-law was a child in Ireland during the Depression.  He was surrounded by first cousins, uncles, aunts...As an adult, the only Gaelic words he remembered were swear words.  He used this word below a lot.


map-longford
County Longford...where my father-in-law lived.

The Irish words for “idiot” are eedjit, amadάn, and amaid. Amάdan means “fool” and amaid means “foolish woman”. Obviously, these are more formal Irish.  

But, eedjit?

Eedjit is the everydayIrish word for idiot.  Chances are it was changed to “eedjit” by the Irish to refer to the English word “idiot.  

Here are some thoughts from another site:


Eedjit:


Eedjit is one English man, so……

Sure and, Eedjits is more than one Englishman….

Dinna ye know: Eedjit is bein’ one sandwich short of a picnic….

Eedjits was stolen from the Scottish language, Eejits.  And I bloody well know…

Hard tae swallie, bein’ an eedjit is official, dey up and put it in de Scottish dictionary…
                         póg mo thóin
Dad knew many words and phrases.  This is one he really liked.

10 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I am as well. don't think I could be anything else.

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  2. It is a favorite of mine too. Here is another: Téigh dtí diabhail, a thóin mór

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    Replies
    1. Go to the devil, you big .... That would be an interesting thing to say , just for the fun of it.

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  3. My grandfather's parents immigrated directly from Ireland in the 1870s. I never heard my grandfather say eedjit, but he pronounced English words differently at times. Beautiful was always Bee-U-tee-ful. He was a gem!

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    Replies
    1. English to English can be pretty confusing. Irish to English is almost impossible.

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  4. I am not an eedjit - but I can see the similarity in the words - lol.

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    Replies
    1. Lots of Gaelic words made their way into the English language.

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  5. All I got is Spanish curses from the Mexicans I used to work with. While they aren't forgotten, they are rarely if ever used. Usually at myself.

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Go ahead...it won' t hurt...I'd love to hear what you think!