Mallacht!

Jan 16, 2014 14:49

Many years ago, long enough ago that it was possibly while I was still in high school, I stumbled upon a web page called "An tInneall Mallachtaí: The Curse Engine." It would, as the name suggests, generate curses in Irish Gaelic Irish, based on selections made by the page's visitors. (An Irish acquaintance of mine-someone I know from my more active days in the X-Files fandom-insists that the proper name for the language is Irish; if I understand correctly, calling it "Irish Gaelic" is a mistake on par with calling a tomato a suspension bridge. And because this is her language and culture, I believe her.) Some of the possible combinations were quite funny.

Unfortunately, the page went down years ago. But someone's brought it back. I stumbled upon it this afternoon when I was taking a break from some rather serious reading that I was doing. And this means that even though I don't know how to pronounce it, I now know that "Go bpléasca na gráinneoga mioscaiseacha do chuid gruaige" means "May the malevolent hedgehogs blow up your hair!"

...I really should get back to my book. :)
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