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Mac_léinn
Member Username: Mac_léinn
Post Number: 110 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 11:42 am: |
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Recently, I've been using go raibh céad maith agat for "a thousand thank you's," since De Bhaldraithe's English-Irish dictionary indicates so. Initially, I thought that the dictionary's entry simply had a typographical error, and that the entry should have been go raibh míle maith agat, but based on a previous thread involving this subject, Ríona's Project, I've learned how céad can, via number-stretching theory, mean anything from 1/8 [of an acre] to 100, to 120, and of course 1,000 per De Bhaldraithe's dictionary. So my question: Is the saying "go raibh céad maith agat" heard often in Ireland? And if so, how can one tell what quantity of thank-you's the speaker of such a phrase is offering to the recipient. That is, on one extreme the saying appears to be sarcastic, since it can mean 1/8 of a thanks to you and on the other extreme it can be abundant in nature, meaning a thousand thanks to you. Maybe the answer lies in its context or the way the speaker annunciates the phrase. I would appreciate any insight into the use of this phrase. Go raibh 120 maith agaibh, Mac Léinn Seanfhocal (Message edited by mac_léinn on February 03, 2007) Fáilte roimh cheartúcháin, go raibh céad maith agaibh. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teachyourselfirish http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irishlinguistics
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4928 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 12:58 pm: |
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quote:Is the saying "go raibh céad maith agat" heard often in Ireland? no. |
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Mbm
Member Username: Mbm
Post Number: 148 Registered: 01-2006
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:07 am: |
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> I've learned how céad can, via number-stretching > theory, mean anything from 1/8 [of an acre] to 100, > to 120, and of course 1,000 per De Bhaldraithe's > dictionary. I don't know what this number-stretching theory is, but céad always means hundred, never any other number. So the phrase go raibh céad maith agat means a hundred thanks. It's definitely a valid and well-formed sentence, but the conventional way to say thanks is go raibh míle maith agat, or a thousand thanks. Is mise, Michal Boleslav Mechura
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4945 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:38 am: |
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Seachain, a MBM! Ar cheadaigh tú d'fhoclóir? Más éisc, nó talamh, nó uibheacha atá i gceist, ní hionann céad agus deich deich! Sin teoiric uimhir lúbach an Mhic Leinn, a chéad luaigh ár saineolaí Mata, Abigail, ar snáth eile. |
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Ceolmhar
Member Username: Ceolmhar
Post Number: 154 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:46 am: |
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Is "thanks a million" Hiberno English then? I hear Irish people using it all the time. (Message edited by ceolmhar on February 05, 2007) No roads were elevated during the composition of this message.
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Suaimhneas
Member Username: Suaimhneas
Post Number: 224 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 06:52 am: |
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Yes, "thanks a million" is very common in Hiberno-English (at least in Dublin), although I've heard "thanks a thousand" used by some less frequently I've often heard "go raibh mile maith agat" truncated to "go raibh mile" by native speakers i Corca Dhuibhne (well, in my local pub at least) |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4948 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 08:05 am: |
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Tá "gura míle" cloiste go minic agam i gCorca Dhuibhne, agus ní sna tithe tabhairne amháin. |
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Suaimhneas
Member Username: Suaimhneas
Post Number: 227 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 09:01 am: |
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Beidh orm bheith taobh amuigh de Tigh Bhric nios minice, mar sin FRC |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4950 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 09:06 am: |
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Ag seasamh san drochsíon, ag drochcúinne? (D'fheadfaí an tuiscint "díreach lasmuigh" a bhaint as an méid a scríobh tú. Ach ní ritheann bealach níos fearr lena rá liom anois) |
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Suaimhneas
Member Username: Suaimhneas
Post Number: 228 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 12:47 pm: |
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quote:Ag seasamh san drochsíon, ag drochcúinne? GML a Aonghuis, ach ni thuigim Standing under the waether, at/with a bad corner/angle? I suspect there is some clever wordplay afoot here Cabhair liom, a chara |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4954 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 03:28 pm: |
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Tá tigh Bric ar drochchúinne sa Riasc, nach bhfuil? Níl imeartas focail ann, seachas gur féidir an tuiscint "just outside" a bhaint as "taobh amuigh". |
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Suaimhneas
Member Username: Suaimhneas
Post Number: 231 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 05:50 am: |
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quote:Tá tigh Bric ar drochchúinne sa Riasc, nach bhfuil? Tá. Tuigim anois, a Aonghuis. An abairt a bhí a lorg agam ná "I'll have to get out of the pub more often" |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 4956 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 05:57 am: |
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Is maith is eol dom sin! "Beidh orm an pub a fhágaint níos minicí" a bheadh agamsa is dócha, nó "Ba cheart dom níos lú ama a chaitheamh Tí Bhric" |
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Suaimhneas
Member Username: Suaimhneas
Post Number: 233 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 06:14 am: |
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Maith an fear, a Aonghuis, beidh piunt ag feitheamh leat ar do chéad chúairt eile |
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BRN (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From:
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 07:08 am: |
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dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/2003/l.murtagh/thesis.pdf |
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BRN (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From:
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 07:11 am: |
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Gabh mo leithscéal; rinne mé botún |
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Mac_léinn
Member Username: Mac_léinn
Post Number: 127 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 12:30 pm: |
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Scríobh Aonghus: Sin teoiric uimhir lúbach an Mhic Leinn, a chéad luaigh ár saineolaí Mata, Abigail, ar snáth eile. Is teoiric nó teoirim í? Tá fhios agam go bhfuil céard a smaoinaíonn Abigail. (I know what Abigail thinks?) . I see in Ó Dónaill's Foclóir Gaeilge Béarla (fourth head-word entry) that í{céad} can also mean many. A Aonghuis, a while back you had posted a government/educational sponsered website that answered questions about the Irish language. I tried searching the archives for the link but couldn't find it. Could you please tell me the name of the site? I'd like to ask them about the meaning of "Go raibh céad maith agat." meaning "a thousand thank you's." Fáilte roimh cheartúcháin, go raibh céad maith agaibh. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teachyourselfirish http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irishlinguistics
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Abigail
Member Username: Abigail
Post Number: 192 Registered: 06-2006
| Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 01:07 pm: |
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Teoiric gan aon agó! Ní féidir é a chinntiú trí bhithín réasúnachta críochta ó bhunchóras aicsímí. Braitheann sé go hiomlán ar fhianaise, ar eolas eimpíreach. (Is é) teoiric atá ann mar sin. Just to clarify: "céad" doesn't mean the number 1/8, but an amount of land equivalent to 1/8 of an acre. "céad talún" = 1/8 acre of ground So if this meaning were to apply to non-land objects - which I don't think it ever does! - then "go raibh céad maith agat" would have to be read as "1/8-acre of thanks" or (more likely) "A good 1/8-acre to you," not "1/8 of a thank-you." Tá fáilte roimh chuile cheartú!
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