The post title says Happy St. Patrick’s Day to y’all as Gaeilge, in the Irish language. I used to speak it almost conversationally (not fluently), but blogging has more or less kept me from picking up my studies in the last few years. It’s truly a beautiful language, and the Twin Cities is blessed to have an organization that works hard to keep the language alive: Gaeltacht Minnesota. In fact, I see they’ll be having their annual all-day spring workshop on May 2nd — not a bad time to jump back into the effort.
Here’s a joke you can use to impress your friends, sent to me by the Admiral Emeritus. Let’s see if you can figure out what’s being said in Irish:
An Irishman walking through a field in Ireland sees a man drinking water from a pond with his hand.
The Irishman shouts “Na ól an t-uisce, tá sé lán de chac bo!”
The man yells back “I’m English, speak English, I don’t understand you”.
The Irishman shouts back “Use both hands, you’ll get more in.”
So what did the Irishman say? You’ll have to watch the Dubliners sing “Whiskey in the Jar” first, as I have the answer in white text just below the video; click and drag over the last line to reveal it, but take your best guess in the comments first. Have a lovely St. Patrick’s Day, and remember when you party tonight, the idea is to wear green, not to turn green, so be careful out there.
Answer: Don’t drink the water — it’s full of cow dung!
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