Break out your"Kiss me, I’m Irish" shirt, lads and lassies; St. Patrick’s Day iscomin’ a’callin. While you’re nursing a green beer atyour favorite pub, look like a nerd dazzle your friends withyour knowledge of the Irish origins of some common English words such as these.(If they say, "Hey, that word’s etymology is Scottish Gaelic," tellthem Scottish Gaelic grew out of Middle Irish, and then punch them in the gob.)
1. Whiskey:It may be a cheap shot, but we’ve got to start with one that’s alcohol-related.Yes, it was the Irish who brought us whiskey, or uisge beatha,"the water of life." We do not recommend it as a healthy substitutefor water.
2. Boycott:There’s no word evolution involved with this one. Some folks in County Mayo,Ireland decided to fight back against a stubborn land agent for an Englishlandlord who wouldn’t lower their rent. So they refused to have any dealingswith one Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott.
3. Slob: It wouldactually be an understatement to call someone who regularly wears clothescovered with mud a "slob." Yet the word derives from the Irish word slab,meaning mud.
4. Hooligan:Without this word we’d just have to call soccer fans "criminals." Noone argues it’s Irish in origin, but exactly what it sprang from is murky.Perhaps a gang leader and cop-killer of the same name gave rise to the term, orthe family name of a rowdy Irish clan. We’d believe either.
5. Gob:Do people ever tell you to shut your gob? Based onthe context, you probably deduced they meant shut your talk-hole. It’s slang,which means there’s speculation involved, but this word most likely comes fromthe Irish for "beak" or "mouth."
6. Gibberish:The Irish had to come up with a word to explain talking while drunk."Gibberish" could be from the Celticgibber, or the Gaelic gabairechd,meaning unintelligible talk. It could even be a play on "gob" or"gab."
7. Leprechaun:Here’s one you should be able to call to mind even after a few pints. Manybelieve the word comes from the Irishleipreachán, meaning"pygmy." We prefer the theory that it refers to their penchant forshoe-making: leath bhróganroughly translates into"one-shoe-maker." After all, no one’s ever caught a leprechaun makingtwo shoes at once…
8. Brogue:The sartorially savvy will recognize this term for leather shoes with elaboratestitching on the top and sides. We got the name from the bróg, astout, rough shoe worn by Irish highlanders. The term became intertwined withheavy Irish accents because people with them typically wore the shoes, too.
9. Slogan:Weird to think the term for a war cry has now come to describe what a chorusline sings about paper towels.The Gaelic sluaghghairm breaks down into "army" (sluagh)and "shout" (ghairm). Soldiers would scream their"slogan" at the top of their lungs before rushing into battle.
10. Clan: Ifyou’re a Smith, Murphy, Kelly, or Shea, you likely belong to a longstandingIrish clan. The word comes from the Gaelic clann and the OldIrish cland signifying "family" or"offspring."
12. Shamrock: You’ll seeplenty of these on St. Patty’s Day. The reason is St. Patrick used the seamróg,or "little clover," to demonstrate the three aspects of God: theFather, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Shamrocks came to be considered holyplants because of the association.
13. Phony:This is another slang term, which makes tracking its etymology difficult.However, it is believed to derive fromfáinne, the Irish word for"ring." Sailors and swindlers would often try to pass off brass ringsas gold ones, thus the connotation of something that is not what it appears tobe.
14. Loch:OK, the Loch Ness Monster might not be something that comes up in conversationevery single day, but as far as urban legends go it’s a household name. The"loch" is Irish for "body of water," vis-à-vis a lake.
15. Smithereens:Let’s just say first, "smithereens" is a fantastic word. What was itblown to? Smithereens! It spawned from the Irish word smidirin,meaning "fragments," as the diminutive version of smiodar,"fragment."
16. Banshee:You may have heard this word from an elder at some point when you were runningaround the house screaming as a child. Turns out it is kind of insulting toapply it to a guy. It comes from the Irish bean sidhe, the"female of the elves" who called to the spirits of the dead. So, itbasically means "fairy queen," and them’s fighting words.
17. Bard: Englishmajors love to refer to Shakespeare as "the Bard." Before, you couldone-up them by rubbing the fact that you have a job in their face. Now you knowthe etymology: from the Celtic bardos, a singer or poet.
18. Slew:Remember sluaghghairm? Sluagh is also the place weget our word meaning "a large number or quantity." As in, you nowpossess a slew of information about English words with Irish origins. Táfáilte romhat. (You’re welcome.)
Contacts and sources:
Emma Taylor
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