Happy St. Patrick's Day! (3-17-2004)

:toast: Erin Go Bragh!


I vaguely remember seeing some debate about the origins of this phrase on the GAELIC-L list about this, but haven't checked back there in a (long) while. Anyway, the word Erin is the anglicisation of the Irish word Éireann which of course translates to Ireland. Whether this refers to the Island or the Country is a political point that I won't pursue. The remainder of the phrase is more of a challenge. There is no "bragh" in the Irish language so it's somewhat difficult to figure out from what original Irish word this came. Among the possibilities are:

Brach; unlikely as this means pus
Brách; more likely, as go brách means for ever, though with a negative it can mean, for example: Is fearr go mall ná go brách (Better late than never).
Braich; Hmm... could be, as this means Malt (!)
Bráth; possibly, though I'm not convinced as Lá an Bhrátha translates as Judgement Day.
Breá; I personally think this is quite likely, as it translates as good or fine, for example: Tá Sí go breá means She is fine.
Bréag; I don't think so; this means false or a lie, example: fiacla bréige would translate as false teeth
 
Vortex said:
Wasn't he also responsible for chasing the snakes out of Ireland... or was that St George?
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Aye, Paddy was the snake worrier..........George had this thing about fighting a dragon (although the"dragon" is just a metaphor for christianity driving out the pagan religions......never was any real dragons in England.....unless yer count Margaret Thatcher :retard3: )


Yup, I'll be sober too......Oh well, I'll watch everyone else get drunk....or just stay home, my friends have gone down to the coast anyway (and I couldn't get off)
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I've decided to stay home.......nowt worse than being the only sober bugger amongst a crowd of drunks :(
 
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