When to use àlainn vs brèagha?

[Ionatan]

In Can Seo and Speaking our language they use brèagha for a lovely/fine day as in tha latha brèagha ann. However, in LearnGaelic, they seem to prefer àlainn. Now these words have very similar meanings, so I am wondering what the nuances in actual common usage are.

For instance, I heard somewhere that snòg used to be used just for people but now is used for the weather as well (as LearnGaelic demonstrates it). In English we have lots of similar words too, of course. For instance, being a native speaker I 'automatically' know not to describe a day as 'handsome' but that a person could be both handsom and 'handsomely' rewarded though is unlikely to be 'beautifully' rewarded and that it is archaic to describe a woman as 'handsome' as that is now reserved for men in monern usage etc.

I guess I'm trying to get that sort of feel for these two words. I know that you can say nighean brèagha, but can you say gille brèagha or nighean àlainn and gille àlainn? (I did look up handsome and found about half a dozen other words all new to me, so this is a rabbit hole of Gaelic beauty that I am dissapearing down for sure!).

[Níall Beag]

I'm not sure of the nuances, but you can certainly use àlainn for people. "Nach tu tha àlainn" and the like. The Irish song An Chailín Álainn was translated into Scottish Gaelic as A Chailin Àlainn without changing the word.

[akerbeltz]

Àlainn trumps brèagha, snog is short by the way.

[Ionatan]

Thanks for the input as ever and thank you for being so patient with my stream of x vs y questions!

[faoileag]

And you may wish to add bòidheach to your complimentary repertoire. Lovely, pretty, graceful, bonnie, pleasing to the eye.
Especially if describing a nighean donn...

Google combinations for context and frequency, but check if sources look reliable.

[Ionatan]

And you may wish to add bòidheach to your complimentary repertoire. Lovely, pretty, graceful, bonnie, pleasing to the eye.
Especially if describing a nighean donn...

Duly added, though I personally favour the nighean ruadh! So far I can only say nice stuff about people (which is probably just as well) but one day I must learn how to say "Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries"! I'm surprised that isn't one of Akerbeltz's Easter eggs.

[akerbeltz]

I don't think 'S e hamstair a tha 'nad mhàthair agus tha fàileadh nan caoran-dromain far d' athar would make it, it fails to illustrate any specific usages, grammar or idiom, that would require an entry

[Níall Beag]

I don't think 'S e hamstair a tha 'nad mhàthair agus tha fàileadh nan caoran-dromain far d' athar would make it, it fails to illustrate any specific usages, grammar or idiom, that would require an entry

Well, I personally wasn't aware of the idiomatic way to express "to smell of sthg" until now....

[Ionatan]

akerbeltz wrote:
I don't think 'S e hamstair a tha 'nad mhàthair agus tha fàileadh nan caoran-dromain far d' athar would make it, it fails to illustrate any specific usages, grammar or idiom, that would require an entry

Maybe, but I shall practice this diligently! It makes a change from learning whether there is a ceilidh anns a bhàr a-nochd (Cò tha a' seinn aig a' chèilidh?), which seems to be the perennial topic of conversation in Can Seo! (Bha Iain a' seinn aig a' chèilidh, ach bha an deoch air. Bha e a' seinn ro àrd etc). Also something else to eat other than bròt agus sandwiches le feòil fhuar would be a treat too (hamster marinated in elderberries perhaps? Maybe that is actually the true recipe of haggis?).

Well, I personally wasn't aware of the idiomatic way to express "to smell of sthg" until now....

A h-uile latha latha sgoile! <pretends that this tripped off the tongue and I don't have it on an Anki card>

[akerbeltz]

[GunChleoc]

There's also "eireachdail", which has a connotation of being elegant.