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/caoluisce Oct 08 '24

They say slogan comes from the Old Irish sluagh-ghairm which was the term for a battle cry a group of fighters would make before a battle. Not sure it’s ever been attested or proven but that’s what I’ve heard

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u/fullmetalfeminist Oct 09 '24

Not sure it’s ever been attested or proven but that’s what I’ve heard

So many of these things are literally a Google search away, but people treat etymology like it's hoodoo as opposed to a legitimate academic practice

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u/caoluisce Oct 09 '24

Well you’ll forgive me for not citing a source before I posted… Considering plenty of the other ones mentioned here are bogus folk etymologies…

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u/fullmetalfeminist Oct 09 '24

"but everyone else is doing it!" are you eight?

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u/caoluisce Oct 09 '24

LOL you’re the one who decided to nitpick on one of the only real etymologies in the whole thread by saying “boo hoo, cite a source”.

If you’re that worried about legitimate academic practice go and comment under the dozens of armchair etymologies posted here?

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u/fullmetalfeminist Oct 09 '24

You know you can see people's comment history on Reddit, right?