"you can't unring a bell"

easy in english to make a construction like "unring" but can that be rendered in gaeilge?

is there anyplace online with a list of translations for prefixes and suffixes?

ooooooo....go raibh maith agat...

how about

nach bheinn clog ainfuaimnithe
(a bell cannot be unrung(?))

What the hell is that?!

I'm not sure if you can stick "ain" on a verb, but if so:

Ní féidir clog a ainbhualadh.

Prefixes may break the "caol le caol" rule; there's some that have two forms for "caol" and "leathan", but all the rest just ignore the rule.

--
Some pedantry: The "you" in your original phrase is the colloquial form of "one", ie.:

One can't unring a bell
A bell can't be unrung

That's why it's:

Ní féidir clog a ainbhualadh

and not:

Ní féidir leat...
Ní féidir le duine...

http://www.nualeargais.ie/foghlaim/prefixes.php

Hey,

Thanx for that link and the location of the Seans Eile site.

http://www.nualeargais.ie

Seems like more and more help becomes available everyday.

GRMA

Antaine, I don't think it works that way in Irish - or indeed in other languages.

I would tend to try to translate the underlying sentiment in context - because phrases like those will make no sense to the reader who doesn't realise what the underlying English is.

And "ain" is wrong here. It doesn't mean "un" as in "undo", it means unhealthy/unnatural

i.e. eolas = knowledge aineolas = ignorance. which is more than just "unknowledge"

beart = deed; ainbheart an evil deed

Well we know what the sentence is trying to express:

Once a bell has been rung, you can't go back in time and not ring it. (Unless ofcourse you have a timemachine...)

So what's the verb prefix for "un"? How do you say:

He unfilled the bucket.
He disassembled the bike.

(That's just got me thinking about how complicated English really is... impatient, undesirable.). Glad I don't have to learn that sh*t!)

d'fholmhaigh sé an buicéad
Thóg sé an rothar as a chéile

Translation word for word just won't work.

well, i was thinking specifically that "you" cannot unring a [that] bell

not generally speaking, but that a person could not take back what they said/did etc, said to that person

yeah...i didn't think it would work that way, lol

I'll try and find an idiom for you, Antaine.
Can't think of one just now.

Well I think the most common English equivalent is:

The dye is cast.

just an aside...as something i've always wondered

"the die is cast"

does this mean

that the metal die has been molded, and thus cannot be changed - also that the impression that will be imparted to whatever is stamped with it is also now predetermined

or

that the gambler has cast the die, and so it is now inevitable that it will land on a number, having implications for the bets cast - also that the number has also already been determined even though the observers will not know what number it is until the die comes to rest

just out of curiosity...

Said originally by Julius Caesar: (and lifted by me from Wikiquote)

"Alea iacta est."

* Translation: "The die is cast."
* Said when crossing the river Rubicon with his legions, thus beginning the civil war that ended the Roman Republic and created the Roman Empire. The Rubicon river was the boundary of Gaul, the province Caesar had the authority to keep his army in. By crossing the river, he had committed an invasion of Rome.

oh, I know where it came from, although I didn't know the latin offhand

I was wondering to which "die" does he refer? the kind used to make coins, or the kind used to gamble?

alea translates to "game of dice" and not a minting die - which i suppose makes sense given the context as he was taking a chance in his bid for power

cools

I had no idea of the origin of the phrase. I presumed it was:

The dye is cast.

As in once a fabric has been dyed, there's no going back. . . I suppose it's best said and no written, 'cause then it has quite a few metaphorical meanings!

Sorry, I thought the piece I posted answered the question. It was late last night.

Caesar was taking a gamble by crossing the Rubicon, so it was the game he was referring to. Once you've thrown the dice, the situation is defined.

Fuair mé an méid seo san fhoclóir mar aistriúchán ar "What's done cannot be undone" (s.v. "do" in de Bhaldraithe):
"Níl aon mhaith sa seanchas nuair atá an anachain déanta."
Beagáinín fada mar nath!
Tá sé le fáil in Ó Dónaill s.v. "anachain" freisin, leis an aistriúchán "it's no use crying over spilt milk".

Fáilte inar measc arís, Dennis. Ní fhaca mé do lorg le fada!

A, a Dhonncha, 'dé mar atá tú? Mise Lughaidh, a chuir ceastracha ort fá shanasaíocht cupla focal Gaeilge (lá, mar shampla) ar liosta Old-Irish-L ;)

Well "alea iacta est" is not a reference to gambling. The casting of the die was to see how favorable the god's would be to these actions, an oracle or portend .02$

(Message edited by dan on February 06, 2005)

"alea" refers to a gaming device. Hence Caesar's gamble,(and perhaps Caesar's palace in Las Vegas), but more important is the rule that says one cannot "un-throw" the dice once they are cast.

Perhaps this accounts for the reference to "crap(s)" often uttered by persons who fail to make the point.

Incidentally, I bet you can't find the Rubicon on a present day map of Italy, Aonghus.

I found a couple of references to Ceasar's quote "alea iacta est" as coming from Menander, a famous Greek poet. Here's an extract from one source:
"He is then reported to have muttered the now infamous phrase, from the work of the poet Menander, "Alea iacta est", quoted as "Let the die be cast” or 'Let the dice fly high.'"

The source is:

http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/crossing-the-rubicon.php

I think that Ceasar should share the credit for the quote with Menander :)

you mean this one?

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx?refid=701516117

Séard a deirimse le mo dhaltaí féin - translation , like a wife, is most attractive when least faithful. Ní mise a chum é, is bean mhúinte teanga mé féin, agus tuigeann siad ar an toirt cad tá i gceist agam.

just an odd question...does anybody remember where the post was about the benefits of expanded non-english-speaking tourism to the gaeltacht? we're having a bit of a debate on the uilleann pipers' board...

http://www.gaeltacht.info sílim.

you mean this one?

For years I've been unable to find the Rubicon on a map of Italy. I was under the impression that due to its size (it's been referred to as a little stream) its location had become obscured. Also, tradition has it that Caesar had been encamped at Ravenna which is about 30 miles north of the location on the map, and that he had marched south late at night with a small contingent of men, becoming lost and not finding his objective until morning. Seems like a lot of time, secrecy, and distance for a man who allegedly knew what he was doing. I'm not sure that's the Rubicon(e) of the story.

that's the one that was said to be a little "river" that could be crossed on foot sans bridge etc...

maith go leor, a Antaine, agus go raibh maith agat.

do I win a prize? ;o)