I've waited for about two years for this book, and it finally arrived today...I haven't had a chance to peruse it in depth yet but just for fun I looked up "Clabber" (remember back about a year,James?) and it says a Hiberno-English word for 'mud' or 'general household dirt' from the Irish word clábar ='mud'...doesn't really bring to mind biscuits, does it! The cover looks like a giant glass of Guinness...but that bit of stereotyping aside, I'm very happy to have it. I just found the phrase "blow-in"...what I wouldn't give to be a "blow-in" in Clare right now!!

Bronntanas beag duit a Julia:

"I'm livin' in Drumlister/In clabber to the knee."
From: http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/wfmarshall.htm

Agus :
Bard of Tyrone 1888 - 1959

I', livin in Drumlister,
An' I'm gettin' very oul'
I have to wear an Indian bag
To save me from the coul'.
The deil man in this townlan'
Wos claner raired nor me,
But I'm livin' in Drumlister
In Clabber to the knee.

(from 'Me An' Me Da')

From: http://www.ulstersociety.org/resources/wfmarshall/intro.html

Slightly off the original, but it did remind me not only of biscuits, and also of other things.
Such as the word cocky or cockies - things little children make in the toilette. Makes me wonder if it may have originated from, "cacaí".
Also the German word for 'smoothie' - you know, that whipped fruit drink concoction? "Lachaffe". Loosely, monkey puddle. MMMM mmm Good! LOL!

-Maidhc.

Or from "cac" (excrement).
Lachaffe would be a laughing monkey, so I wonder where you got that defintion?

Ah. Now I have it.

This http://dict.leo.org/se?p=/Ue0E.&search=Lackaffe online dictionary gives smoothy as the definition of Lackaffe.

But
a) This is a person, not a fruit juice. A vain, conceited person at that.
b) would translate as Varnished Monkey

I love this stuff!!! I looked up "cac" in my beloved BDIP&F and it led me to "Seamas an Chaca..." a nickname applied to James II after he left the field at the Battle of the Boyne. I believe that same term can be applied to several political leaders of our current day...but this is not the time or place.

A Seosamh...Brewer's also uses W.F. Marshall's poem to illustrate the use of "clabber". Thank you for a new website to explore.

Do chéad fáilte a JuliaM.

Tuilleadh caca anseo:

http://www.lincolnu.edu/~focal/


The Word of the Day in Irish

Word: cac (KAHK) [ka:k]

Meaning: cac = excrement, shit; to shit

Usage:

cac capaill (KAHK KAH-pwihly, ly as in "million") [ka:k ka:pil'] = horse shit
Chac sé ar na huibheacha. (KHAHK shay ehr nuh HIH-vuh-khuh) [xa:k s'e: er' n@ hiv'@x@] = He made a complete mess of it. (lit., he shit on the eggs)
cac ar oineach (KAHK ehr IH-nuhkh) [ka:k er' in'@x] = a low-down scumbag, an utter slimeball. This expression, which literally means "shit on honour", goes way back. Oineach, spelled "enech" in Old Irish, literally means "face", but has the extended meaning of "honour, reputation" and the even further extended meanings of "generosity, hospitality, protection," those things on which a reputation is based. In the Old Irish "Críth Gablach" we find the phrase "cacc fora enech" (lit., shit on his face), which seems to refer to the despicable act of surrendering a refugee to his enemies after having guaranteed him protection.

History: Old Irish "cacc", Welsh "cach", Breton "kac'h", Latin "caco"(defecate) and Greek "kakos" (bad) all come from the Indo-European root*kakka- (to defecate). English cognates include "poppycock", "cacophony"and various words used mainly by small children.
Scottish Gaelic: cac

I use the word 'clabber' and have all my life. Unforunately I believe it is quite an old word which not many people use anymore - well, anytime I've used it with Irish speakers I had to explain what I meant.

Sea, tarlaíonn a leithéid a Aoí gan Bhaisteadh.
Mhair roinnt focal Gaeilge anuas sa Bhéarla in áiteanna éagsúla ach nach bhfuil rófhairsing in áiteanna eile. 'Clábar' is ea ceann acu, focal atá le clos thall is abhus in Ultaibh ag muintir an Bhéarla (agus ag m. na Gaeilge). Tá mé ag leagan amach gur chuala mé ag roinnt daoine thiar é chomh maith le muintir Uladh agus feicim ag Pádraic Ó Conaire é sa scéal 'An bhean a ciapadh':
'.. ach cheapfá nuair a d'fheicfeá a lorg i gclábar na sráide gur páiste dhá bhliain déag a chuaigh an bealach ...' (Scothscéalta, 119)

Glár (= salachar nó puiteach fliuch, eisileadh) chomh maith, cloisfear é ag muintir an Chabháin ina gcuid Béarla:
'Would ya clain up that oul glár there like a good man'.

A chairde,
Mar eolas daoibh, the word clabber is still in common usage in Glasgow, Scotland.
Beir bua agus beannacht!
Chris

Clábar is also widely used in Mayo:

"I'm covered in clábar".