Calling Tina

Hi Tina...

What does this mean please - "Le gr�, go deo!!

Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Zeb Ede doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...

I've been *told* it means "With love, see you!" (it was in an album sleeve and I asked my dad what it means), but I'm not sure. I'd appreciate it if it's wrong for someone to correct me, though.

Do you know what language it is, because I don't recognize the dialect...

Z.

"Tina" wrote in message news:[email]...

It's Irish (Gaelic). Kind of a funny way of saying it though. It's not correct Irish, looks like someone just translated directly from English and it doesn't really work. "Go deo" means "forever" and "gr�" is love. We would say "sl�n" or "sl�n leat" for "see you".

Cliodhna

Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Cliodhna doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...

Thanks, I guessed that might be wrong. So what would the best way of saying it ("with love, see you") be, then?

There isn't really an exact equivalent phrase that I can think of. The nearest would be "beir mo dhea-mh�in chun _________" (putting in the persons name) which would be "give my love to ________". Or, you could say "Sl�n agus beannacht" which is "Goodbye and blessings". Another one is "sl�n go foill" which is a friendly way of saying "goodbye for now". As you can see, Irish doesn't translate awfully well into English. These endings seem formal but you would only use them to people you know. There are a few others but they would be reserved for the "yours sincerely" type of endings. Hope this was of some use to you!!

Sl�inte (cheers!!)

Cliodhna

Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Cliodhna doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...

Ah, I see. :) Yeah, my dad mentioned that Irish didn't translate very well into English. He once attempted to teach me something in Irish - the fact that I can't even remember what it was doesn't speak very well for its easiness to learn... :) I get the impression it's one of those languages you have to learn early otherwise you're never going to pick it up, yes?

Yeah, as soon as we start primary school at four we have to learn Irish and it's a compulsory subject with English and Maths until you leave school at 18. But, it's not just a language taught in the schools. As it is the first official language of Ireland, all of our roads signs are in Irish and English, the news is broadcast in both languages, same goes for government publications, voting papers etc. etc. We have a TV station called TG4 that broadcasts Irish language stuff and the odd classic English language one like "Dr. Who" or "Northern Exposure". They broadcast a program like "The World's Scariest Police Chase" but it's in Irish - it's kind of funny. There's a radio station too, Radi� na Gaeltachta. Go here if you want a listen http://www.rte.ie/radio/rnag.html You must tune in before 23:00 GMT because they go off-air then (damn 15 mins ago!!!). It's the last icon of the Live Radio Streams section and you need RealPlayer. If you wanted to hear how Irish is meant to be spoken, then that's the place to go!

Sl�ite!

Cliodhna