I recently had (as a Halloween prank, I figure) all the posters ripped off od my dorm door. Nothing valuable really, just a lot of Irish sayings and music images, kinda bugs me that someone did it. I’d like to put up a sign written in Irish with some kind of deragatory messege to them on it; something to the effect of “only a$$ holes steal posters they can’t read”.
Could someone with an understanding of Irish please help me out with the translation? I’m in an Irish Language class, but my vocab is limited to being able to introduce myself, ask for food, tell about my hobbies, ask for directions, etc.
This is AWESOME! I’ve always wanted to learn Irish, and, since I don’t have a sleeping dictionary yet, learning to curse is the best way to start.
Thanks!
You’d be amazed at the number of people who do it. I’d say that a good 80% of our translations at IGTF are tattoo requests. And people can be really stupid about it. We had one girl who, after getting a translation from us, and being told by us a couple of times that the comma in it was necessary, decided to leave the comma out because the tattoo artist told her “it’s not like it’s a book or anything…you don’t need it.” Unfortunately, leaving the comma out changed the meaning of her tattoo.
But there’s a huge difference between getting a tattoo and putting up a sign. Sometimes saying something in a foreign language helps a person vent without getting him/her into trouble.
I’m not as much concerned with written Irish, as you can, at least, get a dictionary and figure out what a fool you’ve made of yourself. But with Oriental ideograms there is no easy way to find the meaning of what you are looking at, yet many people insist on getting tats, signs, t-shirts, etc. “decorated” with Oriental writing.
Let’s not forget the basis of Tyler’s favourite site, Engrish.com. Many of these examples are of Asians using written English as an “exotic decoration,” just as people here are using Oreintal writing in the same manner. If we should get a laugh out of their errors in our writing, why shouldn’t they get a laugh at us for our own ignorance and arrogance as well, such as walking around with “Coca Cola” proudly emblazoned on one’s chest?
Thanks everyone! The curse engine is brilliannt!! And the coca-cola tattoo thing…wow. A friend of mine here actaully has a tattoo in Japanese characters that he was told meant ‘wisdom’, but has been told by more than one sourse that it actually means ‘hello kitty’. (He actually got quite a kick out of it, and is very proud for some reason).
I only want to post a curse in a different language, posting “go to hell” in english might not be looked on favorably here. I think I’ve got something to start with now…
Thanks again! If you have any other good ideas for a sign, let me know!
I took karate lessons for a couple of years back in my college days. Our instructor had tshirts made with our style’s (Wado-ryu) symbol on the chest, and some kanji on the back. He told us the kanji meant “Fighting Spirit”, but we always joked that it probably said “Kick me.”
I used to have a Nelson’s Ideographic Dictionary. (I gave it away. What was I thinking!?) It’s easy to look up ideograms if you understand how the ideograms are composed. There are a number of “radicals” - I can’t remember how many, maybe a hundred or so - and you put the radicals together to make the image. Most people recognise the symbol “Jin” meaning “Man”. There’s also a symbol for room or box, which looks like a square. The symbol with a man in a box means “prison”. And the symbols for “woman” and “child” together means “fond”. It’s fascinating.
Múnaim i mbainne do mháthair. (I piss in your mother’s milk.)
Go n-aiseaga tú. (May you vomit.)
Múchadh is bá ort. (A smothering and drowning on you.)
And my favorite, the truly unparalled
Suas do thóin le buidéal briste. (Up your arse with a broken bottle.)
These & many other insults in Irish & Scottish Gaelic will be included in Curse & Berate It in 69 Languages, a book I am helping to compile & edit to be published in early 2008 by Soft Skull Press…
And one I’ve been known to yell out the window of the car at insane bicyclists:
Go n-ithe an cat thú, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
(May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat)
I didn’t mention this before, but bear in mind that all these will change somewhat if you’re addressing multiple people. For example, the one I’ve given above would be:
Go n-ithe an cat sibh, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat.
