English to Gaelic translation?

April 7, 2008 11:39 AM

English to Gaelic translation? Can someone translate the following English sentence into Gaelic?

"Nothing in my life cannot be fixed, so I'll proceed with great Irish optimism."

This is intended to be a personal motto of sorts, so bonus points if the translation is relatively short and to the point.

posted by Cool Papa Bell to grab bag (15 comments total)

This forum might be able to provide a translation.

Since you mention Irish in there, I'm guessing you want this translated into Irish (or Irish Gaelic) as opposed to Scottish Gaelic or Manx. All three are Goidelic (or Gaelic) languages and speakers of such might take offense calling any one "Gaelic" (while other speakers might actually prefer it). Just wanted to mention it so you're not shocked if someone says, "Do you mean Irish?".
posted by Nelsormensch at 12:02 PM on April 7, 2008

CoolPapaBell, I assume you mean Irish Gaelic, since you make reference to Irish optimism.
I speak some Irish, but definitely not fluently. Here's my attempt. I couldn't find "optimism" in the dictionary, so I used the word "hope". Of course, this ruddy thing can't handle fadas...

"Nil aon rud gan ceartu le mo shaol, mar sin beidh me ag dul ar aghaigh le dochas mor Eireannach."
posted by LN at 12:16 PM on April 7, 2008

OK, since I'm so anal, I thought I'd try again with the fadas in place:

Nil aon rud gan ceartú le mo shaol, mar sin beidh me ag dul ar aghaigh le dóchas mhór Éireannach.

Literally: There is nothing without correction in my life, therefore I will go forward with great Irish hope/expectation.
posted by LN at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2008

(If you specifically want a Scottish Gaelic translation then holler and I'll provide.)
posted by brautigan at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2008

FWIW, in contemporary Ireland, "Irish Gaelic" is by and large simply called Irish. It is called "Gaeilge" in Irish, but since the OP can't speak Irish, the question is a bit like asking "can someone translate this into français?"

Functionally, Irish is Irish and Gaelic is Scots Gaelic. Confused yet?
posted by DarlingBri at 12:48 PM on April 7, 2008

One of the best gaeilge learner lists that I was subscribed to for a long time is GAEILGE-B. They had always been great about providing translations of this sort, and the list is frequented by many native speakers.
Ádh mór ort!
posted by mcarthey at 1:00 PM on April 7, 2008

DarlingBri, that distinction is largely one that didn't make it to the North American side of the Atlantic. Over here, the word Gaelic is used to refer to any of the six languages that belong to the Gaelic family of languages.

Distinctions like that tend to be cultural, from the looks of things. It's kind of like the last time I was in Ireland, and was asked by a cabbie where in America I was from (I'm Canadian). :)
posted by LN at 1:01 PM on April 7, 2008

I meant "Irish."

Funny, I'm aware that Irish people in Ireland call the version of Gaelic they learn in school "Irish," but I always assumed it was a slangish, off-hand term, and not indicative of a real difference between different versions. Like a Spanish-speaker calling it "Spanish" instead of "Español."

My Irish parents, however, who took classes in Irish grade school, always called it Gaelic. You live and learn.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:23 PM on April 7, 2008

My Irish parents, however, who took classes in Irish grade school, always called it Gaelic. You live and learn.

I was reading a bit of those Wikipedia pages before I posted, and apparently older folks in Ireland tend to call the language we're discussing "Gaelic" while younger folks tend to use "Irish," which matches up with your parents usage.

And as LN said, most folks in North America don't get the distinction at all. I'm in Canada, and if it wasn't for the fact that my girlfriend's family is quite Scottish, I probably won't get the distinction either.
posted by Nelsormensch at 1:36 PM on April 7, 2008

LN, there are any number of distinctions that haven't made it to the North American side of the Atlantic that are vastly more troublesome, but still: the official language of Ireland is stated as being Irish, with English as a second official language. Or, if you're reading the constitution in Irish because you're tremendously bored, Ghaeilg is the national language and Sacs-Bhéarla is a second language.

Sure, sometimes speaking in broad categorisations is easier, but in this case there are six Celtic languages, only three of which are Gaelic :) The poor bastards who speak Manx are probably way more pissy about this than native Irish speakers, though. (Of which, by the way, I am not one.)

Nelsormensch, I've seen that Wiki entry, too, and thought it was interesting. It notes that older people can refer to it as the Gaelic; interestingly, you also hear the Irish, as in "they are speaking the Irish."

Cool Papa Bell, I'm really not having a go at you, sorry if I came off as snarky. If you ever come for a MeFi meetup in Ireland*, just use the term Irish and you won't be subject to a long pub session history lesson and debate from a group of people even more tedious about this than I am being.

*Which would take some doing, since I think there are four MeFis in Ireland, but you're very welcome!
posted by DarlingBri at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2008

funny, I'm aware that Irish people in Ireland call the version of Gaelic they learn in school "Irish," but I always assumed it was a slangish, off-hand term, and not indicative of a real difference between different versions. Like a Spanish-speaker calling it "Spanish" instead of "Español."

It's a modern name. It's tied to both the rise of modern Irish Nationalism and modern linguistics. If you're interested in it, this book has some detail on it. (I didn't pay thirty bucks for that! Wow!)

The gist of it is that "Gaelic" has become a broad term for Q-Celtic languages (Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx) that aren't particularly mutually intelligible. So "Irish" differentiates better than "Gaelic". It's a post World War II idea, mostly. And I can see the Nationalists' point-- we don't call Welsh and Breton by one name.

So the point is that if you want to sound like you're up on the subject, "Irish" is the preferred term now. If you don't care, no one else is likely to care either except prickly linguists and strong Irish Nationalists.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:01 PM on April 7, 2008

Intresting derail. I'm from Ireland and have never heard any (real) Irish person, up to and including my 80-something year old grandparents call it "Gaelic" - that word always sounds like an Americanism to us; only ever see it online. Mind you, "bloody Irish" is a common one in our family too.
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:52 PM on April 7, 2008

My father came to America in 1948 and he and his family - all native Irish speakers from Galway - always called it Gaelic. Perhaps to be better understood by their Yank relations.
posted by readery at 6:44 PM on April 7, 2008

Born and grew up in Ireland. Never called it Gaelic, always Irish. But my Yank cousins when they came to visit always asked me to speak some of "the Gaelic" for them.

I can imagine native speakers calling it that in the USA because they may never have referred to it in English until that time, there would be no reason really. And since Gailge is what it is in Irish, (do bhimid ag caint as gailge), and the way it is referred to in the USA is Gaelic this was how they "learned" to refer to it in the English that is spoken in the US.

I liked Dochas for optimism but there is a word which unfortunately after 20 years escapes me. good luck with the search.
posted by Wilder at 1:03 AM on April 8, 2008

*Which would take some doing, since I think there are four MeFis in Ireland, but you're very welcome!

Oh come now, there are way more than that! But most of us are in Dublin, which only stands to reason.
posted by macdara at 5:07 AM on April 9, 2008