Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Càil sam bith eile / Anything else
Ionatan

Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by Ionatan »

I was looking up whether "mòran" (as in "mòran taing") has an accent - I can never remember. The LearnGaelic dictionary sometimes offers you associated idioms or phrases. In this case it suggests the following 'useful' nugget:

Mòran taing airson nam muncaidhean plastaig!
Thank you for the plastic monkeys

Why would a dictionary even suggest this? It is on a par with other phrase book beauties from around the globe like "my hovercraft is full of eels" and "My donkey can only carry one suitcase". It begs a question:

A bheil muncaidhean plastaig cudromach ann an seann chultar celtic?

What other "useful" gaelic phrases have people found in published material (genuinely useful phrases are obviously off-topic :D )?


akerbeltz
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Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by akerbeltz »

It's because I needed a phrase in the Faclair Beag (from whence this data came) to illustrate the use of "thank you for X" and there's nothing that says dictionaries have to be boring. Sure, I could have used sgadan but one gets a little tired editing a Gaelic dictionary of always talking about sgadan. Since I'm a huge Don Rosa fan, the plastic monkeys popped into my head:
Image
We're in 2019, not everything has to be about what was relevant to Gaelic speakers in the bronze age 8-)
akerbeltz
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Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by akerbeltz »

PS mòran is mòr + an, literally a "bigness". So it has ò. Just in case that helps!
faoileag
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Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by faoileag »

Aw, you could have had "Thanks for all the fish" if you hadn't been so fed up of sgadan... 8-)





(Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe...)
Ionatan

Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by Ionatan »

@akerbeltz:
there's nothing that says dictionaries have to be boring
Tha sin fìor, ceart gu leòr!
Since I'm a huge Don Rosa fan, the plastic monkeys popped into my head
'S toigh leam e! Tha sin glè math!
PS mòran is mòr + an, literally a "bigness". So it has ò. Just in case that helps!
Yes it does, and you gave me a little light-bulb moment - but if I hadn't had to look it up I'd never have found your Easter Egg of the plastic monkeys! I memorised it and quote it at my family randomly along with "An do chuir thu a-mach an cat" from Can Seo :D

Can I take this opportuinity to say mòran taing personally for your contributions to the LearnGaelic dictionary (via Faclair Beag). It is brilliant to have this resource and the associated phrases are dangerously absorbing! Plastic monkeys have not been my first rabbit hole.

@faoileag
OK - here's my stab at it (let me know if I got it right :D ):
Mar sin leat agus taing airson nam èisg uileag. (thanks again to the aforementioned dictionary for giving me the correct plural as I was about to go with iasgean :naire: )

...but perhaps 'èisg' is still too close to 'sgadan' as you say? What about 'taigeis' - you can see I have been having fun with the dictionary and I was fascinated to learn that 'taigeis' is a feminine word given it's secondary meaning - this wee nugget of information I have just learned will surely win me many invites to Burns Suppers!
akerbeltz
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Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by akerbeltz »

'S e do bheatha 8-)
Mar sin leat agus taing airson nam èisg uileag
Chanainn mar sin leibh agus taing airson an t-iasg/an èisg air fad.

Eadar dà sgeul, tha iomadh ball-eisimpleir "èibhinn" san Fhaclair Bheag - tha caraid agam fiù 'gan cruinneachadh!
Ionatan

Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by Ionatan »

Chanainn mar sin leibh agus taing airson an t-iasg/an èisg air fad.
Obviously 'leibh' makes more sense and I hesitated about an t' / an.
Eadar dà sgeul, tha iomadh ball-eisimpleir "èibhinn" san Fhaclair Bheag - tha caraid agam fiù 'gan cruinneachadh!
I'm only on lesson 9 in Can Seo, so I struggled here but got the gist of it in the end. I'm looking forward to finding some myself!
akerbeltz
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Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by akerbeltz »

:flur:
Ionatan

Were plastic monkeys important in ancient Celtic culture?

Unread post by Ionatan »

BRILLIANT! I found another:

cha toill sin san Lamborghini!

I will use this EVERY chance I get :D <runs to am bùth to buy a lottery ticket>
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