I fully understand the prejudice against these sort of books—the title of this one is kind of embarrassing. But there is some genuinely interesting stuff inside. When you look at all the old American slang words listed as "origin unknown" in the great English dictionaries, then take into account the millions of Irish-speaking immigrants who poured into American, British and Australian ports in the 19th and 20th centuries, then look at the striking phonetic and semantic similarities of the slang words with common Gaelic words and phrases in use at the time, then research the first published use of the slang words in question—a case starts to be built up that isn't easily brushed aside. And in most of the examples given in the book, the case for the Gaelic origin is a lot stronger than the alternative.
One example: the phrase "mind your own bee's wax," which first became popular in American slang in the 1920s. No one knows where it came from, and many wacky theories have been proposed. Meanwhile béasmhaireacht (pron. beeswəract) = morality, manners, habits.
The book's worth picking up and flipping through if you see it in the bookstore, if for nothing else than to look up the supposed Gaelic origins of the word "gimmick."
sionnach: the Gaelic equivalents of the words you cited: bas (boss; best, very good), áilteoir scaoilte (a run amok clown; an unconstrained wild prankster; a loose-limbed trickster), teas (pron. j'ass; heat, passion, excitement), roiseadh mórtas (a blast of high spirits and exultation; a burst of boastfulness and bragging).
But you really gotta pick up the book for the full explanation.
flannagan commented on the list slang-words-of-irish-origin-according-to-daniel-cassidy-author-of-how-the-irish-invented-slang
I fully understand the prejudice against these sort of books—the title of this one is kind of embarrassing. But there is some genuinely interesting stuff inside. When you look at all the old American slang words listed as "origin unknown" in the great English dictionaries, then take into account the millions of Irish-speaking immigrants who poured into American, British and Australian ports in the 19th and 20th centuries, then look at the striking phonetic and semantic similarities of the slang words with common Gaelic words and phrases in use at the time, then research the first published use of the slang words in question—a case starts to be built up that isn't easily brushed aside. And in most of the examples given in the book, the case for the Gaelic origin is a lot stronger than the alternative.
One example: the phrase "mind your own bee's wax," which first became popular in American slang in the 1920s. No one knows where it came from, and many wacky theories have been proposed. Meanwhile béasmhaireacht (pron. beeswəract) = morality, manners, habits.
The book's worth picking up and flipping through if you see it in the bookstore, if for nothing else than to look up the supposed Gaelic origins of the word "gimmick."
Nov 9, 2007
flannagan commented on the list slang-words-of-irish-origin-according-to-daniel-cassidy-author-of-how-the-irish-invented-slang
sionnach: the Gaelic equivalents of the words you cited: bas (boss; best, very good), áilteoir scaoilte (a run amok clown; an unconstrained wild prankster; a loose-limbed trickster), teas (pron. j'ass; heat, passion, excitement), roiseadh mórtas (a blast of high spirits and exultation; a burst of boastfulness and bragging).
But you really gotta pick up the book for the full explanation.
Nov 8, 2007
flannagan commented on the word mobby
An alcoholic drink made from sweet potatoes.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misoxeny
Hatred of strangers.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misotramontanism
A hatred of the unknown.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misosophy
Hatred of wisdom.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misoscopist
A hater of beauty.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misopolemiac
A war-hater.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misomania
Hatred of everything.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misodoctakleidist
One who hates to practice the piano.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misocanpnist
A hater of tobacco smoke.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misocainia
Hatred of anything new or strange.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word miserotia
Aversion to sex.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word misarchist
A person who hates authority.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word ateknia
Childlessness.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word brool
(A low roar; a deep murmur or humming.)
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word carrell
A small reading area in the stacks of a library.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word horaphthia
A neurotic preoccupation with one's youth.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word inby
Inwardly, within (Scottish).
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word kindergraph
A photograph of a child.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word lecheur
A devotee of oral intercourse; a licker.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word limberham
A supple-jointed person; figuratively: a fawning or servile person.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word lollybanger
Gingerbread with raisins.
Jul 31, 2007
flannagan commented on the word gair
Sharp, eager, greedy.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word varietist
1. an unorthodox person. 2. one who practices unorthodox sex.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word spintry
A male whore.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word slowcome
A lazy person.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word raun
Fish eggs; roe.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word preagonal
Just before death.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word calecannon
A stew made mostly from potatoes and greens (Irish).
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word crepehanger
A gloomy person; a pessimist.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word edea
The external genitals.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word droze
To melt irregularly and drip, as a candle.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word eoan
Pertaining to the dawn or the east.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word henism
The theory that existence is a single principle.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word hield
1. to incline, to be favorable. 2. to decline or droop. 3. to yield. 4. to turn away.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word hirr
To order a dog forward.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word lirp
To snap the fingers; a snap.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word logolept
A word maniac.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word meable
Capable of being easily penetrated.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word nestcock
A male homebody.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word fitz
A twelfth-century patronymic for royal bastards.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word esssse
Obsolete form of ashes
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word cosher
To live off someone; to have a friendly chat.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word clodpolish
Awkward (slang).
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word clamjamfry
The mob or rabble (Scottish).
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word catlap
A weak drink, fit only for cats to lap.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word ayne
Eldest.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word chirospasm
Writer's cramp.
Jul 30, 2007
flannagan commented on the word sirenic
Like a siren: fascinating and dangerous.
Jul 30, 2007