Irish Language Curses And Insults đą
Irish Language Curses And Insults đą: In this blog, we teach you, err… some bad words in Irish Gaelic. Whatever emotion you may be feeling â happy, gloomy, livid, surprised, slightly annoyed etc. â the Irish language has the perfect curse or insult for you! We suggest you read on to learn more, and maybe tone down using these a bit if you do decide to use them, I guess? Well, let’s just move forward with the blog!
I have talked about different topics such as traditional Irish clothing, days-of-the-week equivalent in Gaelic and the ever-interesting Shelta language. However, never in my life would I expect to talk about cussing in a blog. But here we are today.
Irish language, for me, is one of the most beautiful languages in the world. There are tonnes of reasons why I think so. But, the best one for me is the language having colourful words that have no equivalent in other languages such as English. Heck, the Irish language even has specific curses and insults unique to it!
Why would I want to learn Irish profanity?
Well, I don’t know. Why would you?
Relax â I kid!
Kidding aside, there are various reasons why one would want to learn cussing or insulting someone in Irish. After all, this topic is something that often comes up in Irish language discussions.
There are various reasons for this. First, some genuinely, with no malice, want to learn more Irish words at their arsenal through research, reading books, watching films and more.
Others, well… they would want to learn and use some of these words to give someone a piece of their mind. For example, they want a word that they can use if someone cut them off at a line whilst buying groceries.
So today, we will share with you some of the most unique and interesting ‘bad words’ that Irish Gaelic has to offer. Read on to learn more. And remember, do not tell your mum we told you all of this!
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Here are examples of Irish language curses and insults
As we have mentioned above, plenty of Irish curse words or insults exists that do not have English equivalent, which means that you can convey your (negative) feelings to others better by using Irish Gaelic.
Below, we have some interesting words you should definitely know about when you want to swear.
When you are surprised/shocked
Surprise is something that is natural to us. Instead of saying the usual “Oh my!” or “Woah!”, you can use these Irish words instead:
For Godâs sake!
As ucht DĂ© â (literally âfrom the breast of God!â)
In Godâs name!
In ainm DĂ© â (also works well for âfor Godâs sake!â)
God save us!
Dia ĂĄr sĂĄbhĂĄil â (a nice stand in for âWTFâ or âyouâre f****ng kidding me!â.)
Are you angry at someone? then use these Irish language curses and insults!
Now, if you feel anger at someone and want to express it to them, then you can say the following Irish languages curses and/or insults:
Off/Away with you!
Imigh leat
Beat it/Shove off!
Gread leat
Go away and donât come back!
Imeacht gan teacht ort â (literally âleaving without returning on youââŠthe implication being that youâd just as soon the person crawl off somewhere and die.)
To Hell with you!
Go hIfreann leat
To Hell with you, you rotten b*****d!
Go hIfreann leat a shlĂomadĂłir lofa
When you really want to go off!
Sometimes, you really have to tell them off in the harshest way possible! Here are words you can say to convey just that:
May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat!
Go n-ithe an cat thĂș is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
May you be eaten by the itch!
Go n-ithe an tochas thĂș
Breaking and crushing to your bones!
Briseadh agus brĂș ar do chnĂĄmha
May the devil make a ladder of your back bones while picking apples in the Garden Of Hell!
Go ndĂ©ana an diabhal drĂ©imire de cnĂĄmh do dhroma ag piocadh Ășll i ngairdĂn Ifrinn
*We thank Bitesize’s Audrey Nickel for the above Irish language curses and insults.
More examples of Irish language curses and insults
That your house will fall upon you
Go dtuitfeadh an tigh ort
That you may be burned and scorched
Loscadh is dĂł ort
That you may be badly positioned on a windy day
Droch ĂĄird chĂșgat lĂĄ gaoithe
Six horseloads of graveyard clay upon you
Ualach sĂ© chapall de chrĂ© na h-Ășire ort
Off with you and your lousy lump
Imeacht go fĂĄnach ort fĂ©in is ar do chnapĂĄn miĂșlach
That the twelve devils take you with them
Go mbeire an dĂĄ dhiabhal deag leo tĂș
May hellâs 17 devils go after you
Go n-imigh na seacht diabhail deag atĂĄ i n-Ifrionn iâd dhiaidh
Woe betide you
Lomadh an Luain ort
That you may not be successful on the day
Når éirà an lå leat
May the Devil choke you
Go dtachtfadh an diabhal thĂș
It serves you right!
A chonĂĄch san ort
I hope you die without a priest
Go bhfaighir bĂĄs gan an sagart
A dull-witted, stupid person
MaolĂĄn
A greedy freeloader. The literal translation is âswollen-cheeked little parasiteâ. Burn.
PlucsheadĂĄinĂn
Learn Irish through FluentIrish
Now that we have shared with you some examples of Irish language curses and insults, we also want to discuss with you how we can help you in everything Irish-related.
ba mhaith linn plĂ© leat freisin conas is fĂ©idir linn cabhrĂș leat i ngach rud a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge.
If you can understand simple Irish, you will want to improve. FluentIrish is here for you. Listen every day to get on with Irish.
MĂĄ tĂĄ tĂș ĂĄbalta Gaeilge shimplĂ a thuiscint – beidh tĂș ag iarraidh biseach a dhĂ©anamh. TĂĄ Fluentirish anseo faoi do choinne. BĂ ag Ă©isteacht gach aon lĂĄ chun a bheith ag gabhĂĄil ar aghaidh i nGaeilge.
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