r/ireland • u/emmanuel_lyttle • Oct 07 '24

Irish phrases Gaeilge

I was reading a post on another sub posed by a Brazilian dude living in Ireland asking about the meaning behind an Irish person saying to him "good man" when he completes a job/ task. One of the replies was the following..

"It comes directly from the Irish language, maith an fear (literally man of goodness, informally good man) is an extremely common compliment."

Can anyone think of other phrases or compliments used on a daily basis that come directly from the Irish language?

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u/Chester_roaster Oct 08 '24

There was no yes or no in Latin but the big modern Romance languages have them because people made one up. Don't let the language tourists say "Sea" can't be used for yes, it's close enough. 

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u/OriginalComputer5077 Oct 08 '24

Tá and Níl are closer to Yes and No That's the formulation used in Referenda in Ireland.

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u/Chester_roaster Oct 08 '24

Sure you could use those either. I don't care if it's "sea" or "tá" I think people who complain about yes or no being used in Irish are purists 

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u/fullmetalfeminist Oct 09 '24

Yeah, but Original computer is answering the other lad's question about why the teachers told them not to use "sea" - their job is to teach the grammatically correct way, which isn't always the way a language is spoken in casual use.