Hello everyone! I am new to this site, and I have a question that I would like someone to help me out! PLEASE!! I am getting a tattoo, and I would love it if someone could translate for me?! ..And yes, I am Irish.. or I wouldn't be getting a tattoo in Irish; unfortunately, I don't know Irish like I should!! So, can someone translate "Live for you" to Irish?! I have what I think is the correct Irish, which is : "Beo ar do shon" but dunno if that is correct? I would greatly appreciate this!

p.s. I would love it if there would be other people to confirm that the Irish is correct?!
Thank you very much!

Mo chuid den tsaol? My world/life/whole shebang.Literally: my share of life.I don't think you'll find a word for word translation;languages don't function like that.Also there is no 'person' in your little phrase - like 'I live...' etc.

Bit tricky as my attempt at translation does include the first person.

Maybe 'Mair ar do shon'.Beo really means something more like 'alive' or 'living'.Anyway -do nothing till you get a second and third opinion.Tattoos are a lifelong investment.

Who is the "you" in your phrase?

Do you mean yourself?
And what do you really mean?
Live your own life?
Consider only yourself while living?

or something else?

To translate, we need to know what you mean!

Well, i mean you/me.. yes! Like live your own life, for yourself. Does that make any sense? haha im sorry, im confusing!

Live for your own benefit	Mair ar do shon féin
Live your own life	Mair do shaol féin

I'm not really happy with that second one.



(Message edited by aonghus on August 19, 2011)

I feel like those are too specific! If that makes ne sense? I just want a simple, live for you/ live for yourself. but I don't know if there is anything for that?

You won't get anything that covers the same range of meanings.

You could settle for something like 'Bí Beo' (be alive) or more simply 'Mair' (the imperative for the verb 'live')

English is a much more imprecise language!

If it were you, what would you do?! haha So, "Beo ar do shon" is way wrong?!

I would understand 'Beo ar do shon' to mean 'I am only alive because I care for you' or something like that.

As for what I would do, well, I wouldn't get a tatoo in the first place! Not much help, obviously.

I'd say 'Bí Beo' is close to what you want.

Live for your own benefit Mair ar do shon féin
Live your own life Mair do shaol féin

So out of these two ^^ you don't like the second one? You would go more for the top one? Because I do like "live your own life" I do like that. But if it's not correct, then im going to stay away from it

I'm not happy with the translation, it feels too literal. It sounds kind of stupid to me, you cannot live somebody else's life anyway.

Maybe 'Mair ar do dhóigh féin' (Live in your own manner) would cover it.

So, i dunno if this is right, but i was also looking at different websites, would Mair do shaol work as well? For live your life?? I just noticed it was a little diff than the one you had. Wanted to see what you thought about that one?

Same objection. Who else's life are you going to live? My version just adds 'féin' (own) for emphasis.

OHHHH GOTCHYA! So do you like that in there better or without the "own" part? Okay, thank you very much! Makes things a lot clearer!

It's your skin!

Okay. Thank you VERY much for your help! :)

Aargh! I got that all wrong Liss.I thought you meant 'live for you' as a testamant of enduring love for some other person.Sort of like 'love you babe',hence my query about the missing person.Shows I'm not down with the kids I guess.

Maith agat aris a Aonghuis.(Alt Gr refusues to do fada on letter i)

quote:

Maybe 'Mair ar do dhóigh féin' (Live in your own manner) would cover it.

I'd go with that.

As Aonghus said, Irish is very specific and often creative in its phrases and meanings, much more so than English which can have many more meanings for the same phrase depending on inflection and who or what is saying it or being said to. English really is the more confusing of the languages...

But I would have to put my vote in for "Mair ar do dhóigh féin". I agree that a more literal translation would not hold the same meaning or depth of meaning. And personally if I'm going to get something permanent on my skin, I would want a depth of meaning to go with it rather than a dry mechanical phrase.

Good luck with it! :)

Slán!

What about 'Is leatsa (amháin) do shaol' or 'Is liomsa (amháin) mo shaol', i.e. 'your life belongs to yourself'?

Don't know if this is idiomatic usage. Google has 'is leatse mo shaol', but that's not what you mean, is it? ;)

quote:

What about 'Is leatsa (amháin) do shaol' or 'Is liomsa (amháin) mo shaol', i.e. 'your life belongs to yourself'?

D'fhéadfá sin a rá, cinnte.

Seosamh Mac Grianna, a famous writer, wrote an autobiography "Mo bhealach féin".

"Mo bhealach féin" means "My own way / path through life / etc"

The pronunciation would be close to "muh val-ach fayn" with a slight emphasis on "val" and "fayn".

Why am I thinking of Frank Sinatra?

Ana mhaith! Níor rith an leagan sin liom. Ana leabhar, dála an scéil.

Jeaicín:''VVhy am I thinking of Frank Sinatra?''

It seems vvhen Proinsias vvas in Ireland one time chasing up his roots, he came upon a copy of 'Mo bhealach féin' and thought - he had the cúpla focal - it might make a good title for a song.

Mac Grianna himself, I imagine, vvould have pronounced it the Donegal vvay: 'muh val-a[h] hayn'.

(Message edited by Hugo on August 23, 2011)

An-mhaith, Hugo. Aontaím leat.

Meas tú cén leagan Gaeilge dá shloinne a bhíodh ag Proinsias nuair a bhíodh sé ag canadh sa Damer fadó?

http://baby-names.familyeducation.com/celebrities/s/470

Mac Oireachtaigh?

Nod leat nach gá gurbh ionann Frank agus Francis!

Go raibh maith agat, a Aonghuis, is iontach an duine thú le leas a bhaint as foinsí eolais an Idirlín.

Tá Mac Oireachtaigh go maith.

Franc Seanadóir? Ó Seanadóir? Mac an tSeanadóra?

Glacaim leis nach n-aistreoimis in aon chor é ach cén traslitriú a bheadh air? Soineatra? Cén chaoi a bhféadfaí fad a chur leis an ~ ea ~ sin gan síneadh fada a chur ar an ~e~ nó ar an ~a~ rud a d'athródh an fhuaim. Ar ghá siolla cúnta a chur idir an ~t~ agus an ~ra~?

Nach beag atá ar m'aigne agus mé ag diomailt ama ar cheisteanna den chineál seo, ceisteanna nach mbaineann le hábhar an tsnátha fiú.