(WYTV) — On this St. Patrick’s Day, how about if we speak a little Gaelic? A million Irish citizens do, and you’ve used a few words of Gaelic yourself from time to time.
Hooligan, a Gaelic term for a young troublemaker, the Oxford English Dictionary says it may be a version of the O’Houlihan family, a family of rowdy characters in Irish history.
Slogan….from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning battle cry.
Hubbub…the original meaning of “hubbub” was warlike, from an old Irish battle cry of victory.
Gob….when you gobble up something tasty — thank the Irish for giving us a gob to stuff in our face — from a Gaelic noun meaning “mouth.”
Slob….the word slob comes from the 18th-century Gaelic noun slaba, meaning mud, mire or ooze.
Leprechaun, of course, is Gaelic from two words put together meaning small body.
Whiskey..say it and you’re using a word that Irish monks made up as they were trying to translate the Latin word for alcohol into Gaelic. It literally means “water of life.”
Galore….we have fun galore in Daybreak. In the original Gaelic it meant enough.
Ask a Gaelic speaker today how she is, and you may hear “Ceart go leor” (kyart guh lyore) that means “good enough.”
