#gaeileann

[secretoftheflowers]

At the request of exactly one (1) person, I shall be continuing my thoughts on funny Irish words and meanings. Today's topic: Colours.

So, funny thing about the Irish language, there technically isn't a word for the colour pink on its own. In Irish, the word for Pink is Bándearg (say "bawn-dargh") which literally means WhiteRed.

The word for Pink in Irish is literally WhiteRed.

However! The Irish language does have a word for a colour that English does not. This colour is called Rua (say "roo-ah"). Rua is the colour of red squirrels, foxes, red hair (the natural kind), etc. Bonus Fact: My brother's name actually translates to Red-Headed King with the use of this word.

Next up, black people! In Irish, they are called Daoine Gorma (say "deena gurm-ah"). This directly translates into Blue People. Black people are called Blue People in Irish lmao. But, there's actually a story behind this one, so buckle in.

So, since Irish is an ancient language, and Ireland was very Catholic for a long long time, there are a few weird words for things. And the word for The Devil, or Satan, happens to be An Fear Dubh (say "on far duv"). Now...that directly translates as The Black Man. You starting to see the problem?

We couldn't call black people black in Irish because we'd be calling every poor black man Satan. And I don't know if that's racist but it definitely doesn't feel right. So! Instead! We decided to call them blue people! And that's the story of why black people are blue in Irish.

Thank you and goodnight! Go raibh maith agaibh agus oíche mhaith!

[secretoftheflowers]

I was just thinking recently about the Irish words for things and how funny they sound when translated directly into English.

For example, the Irish words for September and October are Mean Fomhair (say "Man Four") and Deireadh Fomhair (say " Der-ah Four"), respectively. The weird part is when you translate them to English directly and you get: Middle-of-Autumn and End-of-Autumn lmao.

Also, the word for December and the word for Christmas are one and the same, so if someone says "Nollaig Shona!" are they wishing you a Happy Christmas or a Happy December, you'll never know because they are exactly the same.

Also, several of our months are named after ancient celtic pagan festivals like Bealtaine (that's May), Lúnasa (that's August), and Samhain (that's November).

I love my language.