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.

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.

The Old Man

 

YouTube, Celtic Thunder  

The tears have all been shed now,

We've said our last good-byes
His soul's been blessed and he's laid to rest
And it's now I feel alone

He was more than just a father
A teacher my best friend
He can still be heard in the tunes we shared
When we play them on our own

I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on
And I miss him ... The old man

As a boy he'd take me walkin'
By mountain field and stream
And he showed me things not known to kings
And secret between him and me

Like the colors of the pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
And how to fish and make a wish
Beside the holly tree

I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on
And I miss him ... My Old Man
I thought he'd live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly and the years roll by
For a father and his son

And suddenly when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance to tell him thanks
For everything he's done

I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on

And I miss him ... The Old Man
Happy Father's Day to all.

What Once Was Lost....

Looking for the silver coin

No one, no one at all, ever talked about what was involved when a girl or boy starts Irish dance lessons.  Those dancers look amazing as they skim along a wooden dance floor, as they kick high to the sky, and as they leap without effort. Some costumes/dresses are impossibly ugly, the colors are day glow colors.  

But no one tells about the money all that costs.  Dresses straight from Irish designers can cost up to $3000. Children have a habit of outgrowing these dresses.

On Facebook

$1000 worth of Swarovski crystals
on an already expensive dress

Oh, the hard shoes. How can any pair of shoes cost so very much? Apparently, those hard shoes can cost a lot.  

In 2017, new shoes cost about $350. Used ones are slightly less. But what happens when one shoe is lost?  Disaster.

After a huge Irish Feis (fesh) dance competition held in a hotel near Disneyland, my daughter discovered that Clara, my gr-daughter had only one shoe.  They searched all over the hotel with staff help, to no success.

This is how a competition looks

As irony would have it, a few days later John and I attended a math conference in the next hotel over. Time was on my hands, so I went to the hotel and asked about the lost shoe.

Obviously, Lost and Found was the place to go. No luck. But then the hotel maid recalled one shoe and turned it in the next day after the Feis. 

That correct lost and found box contained the shoe. Huzzahs all around!

The lone lost shoe

What was lost was found. Was the search worth it? One shoe, was it important enough to find?  

No one warns us about the cost. But everything costs money, what matters is where it is spent. A new sofa and love seat or a life time of dance memories and skills? Just where do you invest your time, money, self?


The dresses are crazy out-of-line, no matter what. 

Wednesday Words: Tobac for the ol' man

http://jblethers.blogspot.com/

Aw, so, ye caught me, yer ol’ man and ol’ wit ruby cheeks from pints of faded memories.

Go ahead, take laughter at me expense, lass.  Give me a kiss and take flight wit yer fairy wings. 

Oh, girl, do ye have any tobac for me píope??

Aw, well, so. On wi’ ye.

...and again I forget to credit the right blogger who threw the words at me with a photo besides.
This week and month are from Randomosity.  Please,oh please, give yourself a whirl and write a short story, poem, prose...there are some mighty handsome words there.  Write in the comment section or indicate that you'll post something at your own site.  We beg that you link it back to her site, so we can all give it a look see.  Slainte.

Some Mondays...

It has been "unseasonably warm" here in San Diego.  Having made a promise to myself to not complain, moan, groan, or otherwise bitch about the weather, I am moving to something that makes me smile and laugh.

For a Monday, this is a sweet start of the week.

Slainte'

Importance of Language

Di’a  Dhuit.  Pronounced “Desh do-it” (as best I can remember), this is Irish Gaelic/Gaeilge  for hello.   We lived in Ireland for several years, with our children in Irish schools.  Our oldest daughter, Erin, was ten years old when school began.  That exempted her from having to gain some fluency in Gaelic.  Our younger children, John (6 yrs.) and Mary (4 yrs.), started into school with the expectation that they would be learning Gaelic.

Every school day, part of the classes would be in English.  For the rest of the day, Gaelic was spoken and taught.  John and Mary’s homework included Gaelic vocabulary and reading, along with homework in English.  As for Erin, she had to learn certain phrases having to do with being excused to go to the bathroom, get a drink.  She never learned them to satisfaction, so she told me she just “held it” until recess. 

Gaelic is an amazing and difficult language. 

It is beautiful to hear, and the poetry it has produced (and fortunately translated into English) is full of depth, revealing the courage and spirit of its people.  All students who are University-bound must pass Irish Language proficiency tests during their university years.  Sections of southwestern and western Ireland, as well as the out-lying islands, are considered native Irish language areas.  Parents send their children to three-week summer camps in those areas for immersion.  Some parents send their students to Irish/Gaelic-only schools, scoil, paying for this connection to their history through its language.

If I haven’t lost any readers by this point, I am telling you about this complex language, because language defines who we are as a people.  All over the world, the many languages and dialects spoken are reflections of the people and their history.  As the native-speaker generations age and pass away, often the language goes with them.  We see it here in America in the Native American populations, where the elders take the original rich language of their history with them.  Some of the following generations are left with only phrases and basic words. 

Language is the basis of our communications, written and oral.  Having a passion for writing leads me to having a passion for language. 

Go raibh mai’the agat .  (‘Thank you’ as best I can remember in Gaelic.)