Passed through a townland a while ago called Capaillin Bán.Mo leithscéal;can't do fada on the letter i with this yoke.Anyhow this got me ruminating as capall has always been one of my favourite words i nGaeilge.

I think it's because - to me at any rate - it sounds like the noise a horses iron shod hooves make on the road.I suppose I better cough up my 'unfavourite' - clapsholas.I just don't 'see' twilight when I hear or read that word.Compare 'fáinne an lae', the 'ring of day' for dawn.

What pet words do other posters have,and is there a word for dusk which is more sympatico?

Just a bit of fun!

Is fearr liom ... IARGÚLTA .. always reminds of Seán Ó Ríordáin's poem "Oíche Nollaig na mBan"

can't think of a particular "hate"

eadaoin

Actually, 'capall' is one of my favourites as well. So are 'cuan' and 'cogar'. Something about those broad Cs, evidently. Eilit. Fiach. Pláta mór. Aoibhinn. Bó. Go deo. Póigín. Hmm actually this could go on for awhile.

As for 'twilight'...what about coineascar? Or contráth?

Yes.I like iargúlta for wild/remote.Haven't come across it before,is it Muscrai Irish?

Cuan.Sounds like an nice peaceful harbour.I must remember to use coineascar for twilight,Gealach.

I like the word "cuidsúlach" for "eye-catching" or "good looking."

I can't say there are words I dislike other than "oth".

Generally I only see "oth" in letters of refusal. "Is oth linn nár éirigh le d'iarratas!" (We're sorry your application has not succeeded.)

Not a bit sorry, of course. Probably delighted their own "cleamhnaí" succeeded. Now there's a nice word. Hard to trace nepotism there.

Rún,cos it can mean 'love'and/or 'secret'. And our loves are oftentimes kept secret!

I will agree with Macdara in that I do like "Rún." But I also like "carraig" since it sounds so much like "crag" which means a sharp outcroping of rock or stone. I like words that are similar in some way to their meanings...

Also, I know it isn't words, but I love certain idioms because in their litteral sense they tend to sound so creative when their real meaning is revealed. If anyone is feeling silly why not look up what "brown-nosing" would be as Gaeilge. There's no beating around the bush there!

Domsa, bheadh an fhocal ab fhearr liom ná 'áthbheochan'.

Surely 'crag'is derived from 'carraig' ? It is used in English for a rocky outcrop,yet doesn't seem to occur in English - as opposed to Scots- placenames.

I like carraig too.Sliabh and mullach are very mountainy sounding.But cnoc leaves me a bit flat! Ouch no pun intended.Glaise for a stream ,as it sounds so like water splashing.

áthbheochan,'lively' ?

Revival,according to online foclóir.Come on Seriál,conas mar a dearfa 'brownnosing'? We can take it.

Nuair ataim ag caint ar an bhfocal 'áthbheochan' ta se i gceist agam 'revival', a Mhacdara.

Dobhar for water.You don't come across it often in Gaeilge na leabhair.It seems to be more confined to 'torrents' or rushing tides.Sea water rather than placid streams.Gaoth Dobhar of course,but I like the fact it sounds like 'dwr' the Welsh for water,and hangs on in Dover - that great English seaport.

@Macdara:
Goodness...now that I go to look for it I can't find where I found the phrase for brown-nosing any longer. I know it was listed under something else in my dictionary. But if I remember correctly it was something like... "srón thuas a asal" or very close to that. :)

We'll have to stick to plamás-ing I guess!

Anois sin focal nach bhfaca mé go dtí seo: leadhbálaí- a flatterer. I wonder is it live or just languishing in some dictionary. Where is it -- was it -- used?

Macdara
I don't think iargúlta is particularly Múscraí .. it's in Ó Dónaill
I like dobhar too, and dobhartha = watery

eadaoin

one I like particularly is "cailín" cause it's nearly pronounced just as the french word "câline" which means "caressing". Fine isn't it ?

For some reason I like the word "go h-áirithe" ("especially"). It is fun to say and it reminds me of the word for hare "giorria"

Near homophones can be a bit tricky tho' Faberm.I'm always wary of 'mair' and its offshoots.Sound too much like 'marú' etc.Which carries the total opposite meaning.

Is maith liom "dáiríre píre." And other two-word phrases used in Irish - I think a lot of them have both words starting with the same letter, like "tinn tuirseach." Although "dáiríre píre" doesn't have both words beginning with the same letter, the ending sounds in both words are the same. The concept of having two-word phrases with either both words starting with the same letter or both having the same end sounds is fascinating to me and I think it's very creative of the Irish to do so.


(Message edited by rothaí on October 09, 2011)

Yes a Rothai,like ri-rá agus rúla búla.Go leor leor is another one when people get very enthused about something.

Tuirseach traochta,for beyond tired - I'm guessing.Accursed keyboard,fadas come and go!

As for two-word phrases, let's make a list:

spior spear - a mess (?) refutation or rebuttal of an argument
mugadh magadh - ridicule
cogar mogar - underhand dealings, conspiracy
triomach treamach trína chéile - tossed about, untidy
te bruite - hot beyond endurance
fuar feannta - really cold (skinned by the cold)
fáir ná freagra ní bhfuaireas - I got no response
gan anró gan easonóir - without difficulty
... ?

I heard those last two phrases in Iorras Domhnann and thinking back over more than thirty years I shudder to think of the wealth of spoken Irish that has been silenced by the passing of many many wonderful native-speakers of Irish who have gone to their eternal reward. If only they could have been recorded speaking together in time ... It is not too late yet. There are still some excellent speakers alive and well. RnaG is in contact with some of them but there are others.

(Message edited by Jeaicín on October 10, 2011)

I've always loved críochnaithe

Loads of alliteration there.Maith agaibh,a chairde

Meering - a word my gran used for a place 3 or more farms adjoined.Very important in Piseogs and how to combat curses and spells.But I can't find it - obviously an English phonetic spelling here,also probably the suffix -ing added on there.

Antaine - criocnaithe,yes sounds very emphatic.

a couple more 2/3 word phrases ...

sna cianta cairbreacha ..... longer ago than "fadó fadó"

gan cíos cás ná cathú orm .. without a care in the world

eadaoin

Jeacín, nice start on the list!

A chairde, I think what is very appealing about these 2/3 word phrases is their lyrical nature. I don't mean to offend the very learned amongst us by using the term "lyrical" in a perhaps not-so-accurate linguistic frame, but these 2/3 word phrases have a sing-song nature to them, and so that's why I think they're related to singing - or maybe to poetry? They also evoke a certain feeling of happiness, or in some instances satire. Maybe it's the rhythm of the phrases or the repeating of the initial consonant that gives the phrases their lyrical nature.

Just wondering what thoughts members here might have about these phrases from a poetic or singing perspective.

(Message edited by rothaí on October 11, 2011)

Maybe they are a holdover from the oral tradition,a sort of mnemonic device?

Sna cianta cairbreacha - is this to do with the semi-mythical King Carbery? If so it would be fadó fadó and a lot more fadó besides!

beo beathaíoch - alive and lively
thit an lug ar an lag orm! I became crestfallen! I was very disappointed.
Bhí muc ar gach mala aige! He was furious! He had a ferocious scowl!
sionnach sleamhain slíoctha - a smooth slippery fox
diaganta diabhalta - devilish (while pretending to be) God-fearing.

There are many others if anyone can think of them.

"Sna cianta cairbreacha - is this to do with the semi-mythical King Carbery? If so it would be fadó fadó and a lot more fadó besides!"

Macdara, níl fhios agam - fuair mé é i mo rang Gaeilge

eadaoin

Macdara,

I think you may be on to something wonderful regarding the oral tradition and mnemonic devices - go raibh maith agat! I looked up the Irish word for "alliteration," which is "uaim," which also means (the act of) stitching. I think it's so interesting that the Irish mindset (at least as far as the word is defined) for alliteration is that it is a form of stitching words together, which may lend credence to your idea about mnemonic devices. It's said that storytellers weave their stories - and maybe the Irish have been "stitching" them together also!

Maybe I'm reading too much into the meaning of "uaim?"

(Message edited by rothaí on October 11, 2011)

2 words that sound very funny to me:

fite - fuaite = sounds like ficha-fuhcha

interwoven/entangled