Hello to everyone,
I'm an Italian native speaker and I'm writing because I need your help for an idiom I've found. It's the following:
"to be on Irish time"
What does it mean? In which contexts would you use it?
Thanks very much
Cinzia

It means:

not being overly worried about the minutes and seconds;

relaxing and taking one's own time to get things done;

letting things happen in their own good time;

a timeframe at the opposite end of the spectrum from military, German or Japanese time;

a timeframe that makes even "Aussie time" appear fretful and uptight.

(Sorry I am unable to put that into Italian for you.)

"ora italiana"?

quote:

to be on Irish time

I personally like a phrase I heard on the Costa Brava many years ago, in the month of August, when the German tourists replace the English:

mañana oder übermañana

as in, when you might expect service in this restaurant. Irish time's a bit like that. An excellent English adjective for it is 'lackadaisical', sometimes mispronounced 'lacksadaisical' because the speaker has drawn an non-existent connection to the word 'lax'.

quote:

a timeframe that makes even "Aussie time" appear fretful and uptight.

Sure you don't have that backwards, mate? Seems to me:

'Irish time' - they just don't care about the clock.
'Aussie time' - they never knew there was a clock.

(Message edited by linda_kathleen on August 31, 2009)

Is Irish time equal to Hobbit time?

Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.


I would add "a bit and a sup".


Anyone want to contribute some Irish words/phrases for snacks/meals (I guess, besides tae)?

All I know is that "aondéagannacha" is not how you say "elevenses"!

Linda, if you think Irish time is "lackadaisical", you may have missed the point. You need to sit back and relax a bit. The expression Tóg go bog é! "Take it easy!" comes to mind.

There is no implication of slackness or laziness in "Irish time", just mutual respect through patience and an acceptance that you can't rush a good thing. Think of a pint of Guiness or Murphy's, you have to wait until the head settles, there is no choice but to be patient and wait. "Ireland is a state of mind".

What kind of world would it be if you didn't have time to stop and talk to your neighbours. It is a sad development when punctuality becomes more important than people. Apparently, the Celtic Tiger has brought such changes. Sad, really.

quote:

Sure you don't have that backwards, mate? Seems to me:
'Irish time' - they just don't care about the clock.
'Aussie time' - they never knew there was a clock.

Well, yes you are right, they don't call it the "timeless land" for nothing, you know. I was humbly deferring the prized place to the Irish. Unlike the "time nazis", we prefer not to be ruled by the clock.

Calendar? Maybe. Clock? No, thank you.

My personal preference is for aboriginal time. Set a date to meet, camp at the designated spot, and allow three days either side of it. Now _there's_ patience.

I'm all for reinstituting the sun-dial (grianchlog).

Old Irish saying: When God made time, He made plenty of it sums the Irish attitude about time.

Does anyone remember the desperately optimistic church announcements that such-and-such a townhall meeting would take place at 8 o'clock sharp?

Thank you, Breandán, for your detailed explanation, and to everyone else who have participated in the thread. Don't worry, I put it in Italian!
Thanks