r/europe Aug 21 '17

What do you know about... Ireland?

[deleted]

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77

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '17 edited Aug 21 '17

One tidbit that I think is rather neat is that the word for wolf in the Irish language is mac tíre, which literally means "son of the land."

47

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '17

Jellyfish, smugairle rón, translates into "seal's snot".

We also don't have a word for hello, it's Dia dhuit, which means "God be with you". And the response usually is Dia is Mhuire dhuit, which means "God and Mary be with you".

26

u/Snowda Ireland Aug 22 '17

There also isn't a word for yes or no. Everything is said in the positive or negative. Eg. "Are you driving the car?" "I am"

Even the phrase "Is ea" (pronounced shaa) that gets used by people as a direct stand in for the English "yeah" directly means "He is"

14

u/lukelhg Irlande Douze Points Aug 23 '17

Is that why aul lads answer "tis/It is" instead of 'yeah', when people say "shocking weather we're having" etc.

12

u/Snowda Ireland Aug 23 '17

'tis

6

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '17

yep, the "does be" tense also comes from Irish. As in "they do be swimming", "he does be smoking"

2

u/hey_hey_you_you Ireland Aug 22 '17

Or "it (masculine) is"

7

u/slopeclimber Aug 22 '17

We also don't have a word for hello, it's Dia dhuit, which means "God be with you".

Just like English goodbye, which comes from God be with you