ni feidir an duba cur ina ban air...

Thanks for your help

I'd say that's supposed to be:

Ní féidir an dubh cur ina bhán air...

Which literaly means:

The black can't be made white on it


Which probably means:

The situation cannot be rectified.
What's done is done.
It can't be repaired.

No. It means you cannot fool him. You cannot make him believe what is black is white.

Idioms, idioms, idioms...

Éist! (anois, más ag lorg débhrí atáir, sinn ceann breá dhuit)

perhaps it means that it cannot be changed from white to black or black to white...perhaps it means what the speaker want's it to mean...

That's true, but it's means "he can't be fooled" in general. "translate" comes from the latin "trans latum". "Trans" means across and "latum" comes from the verb "to carry" (fero, ferri, tuli, latum) - in the same way, "trans-fer" comes from both parts and the word "ferry" comes from the "to carry" part only.

Its sense has been misinterpreted to means "give as close as possible a word for word replacement" which of course yields nonsense for one trying to carry across the meaning of a sentence. This latter description is what I take translate to mean.

So, while a word for word replacement works for single words like "dork", it doesn't really work for multiple words strung together.

Cáit, even if you translated it word for word, you could not get you meaning from it, because of the "air"

And understanding is in the ear of the hearer, not the mouth of the speaker!

Sure prepositions can't be translate at all!

D'fhan mé ann le huair.

"le" means "with".

So you could say that means:

I stayed there with an hour.

When in actual fact it means:

I stayed there for an hour.

or

I waited for an hour.

But at the same time you can't say that you wait "with" time in Irish, because to us as Gaeilge, we're just waiting for an hour.

Prepositions can't be captured and translated.

people in cork and kerry country areas sometimes in response to the question "How long have you lived here?" will reply with "I'm here with years" - "Ta'im anso le blianta", a legacy of the recent usage of the Irish there. This goes to show that word for word translations can change without affecting the meaning.

Well, if there are sentences following that one, they may help clarify it anyway.

Thanks to you all for your help...I think maybe the writer is referring to Guinness ?? lol

He is at the market in town with a pain in the neck.

Guinness have used the saying as a slogan for a long time, slightly twisting its meaning. They mean you cannot be fooled by any other beer pretending to be Guinness.

Just in case you're all getting a little confused at this stage and can't tell black from white, I refer to the original question.

I agree with Aonghus, the phrase is widely understood in Irish to mean 'you can't fool someone'

I don't think it really helps to be over-analysing common phrases and proverbs, they often use imagery that can't be explained by standard grammer.

Can anybody help me with some specific translation?
or with the use of common sentences...

Sorry m a new user

Ken

you might try either posting the sentences here, or join the GAEILGE-B e-mail list which is for learners.

send an e-mail to

with "SUBSCRIBE GAEILGE-B your name" as the body of the message.