Monthly Archives: April 2009

Irish Class, April 13, 2009

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Irish Class, April 13, 2009

Rang Gaeilge, 13ú lá mí Aibreáin

Again most the lights in
the classroom were out this evening when I arrived. However, this time I was able to
find one of the building staff and get it fixed before class started. Much better!

(Looking at the cuts
on my left hand:)
I fought the saw, and the saw won.
Throid mé an sábh, agus
an sábh bhuaigh.

ilchineálach “miscellaneous”
scríob scratch, scrape f2
scráib scratch, scrape f2
sméar (black)berry f2

More on the special construction for the case of

Tá + verbal noun +
pronoun object

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New language

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From War By Any Other Name: Obama’s new terminology has started a trend

The Obama administration has come under intense criticism for replacing the term “war on terror” with the emaciated euphemism “overseas contingency operations,” and for referring to individual acts of terror as “man-caused disasters.”
….
Yet, if the intention of the Obama administration is to tone down the confrontational rhetoric being used by our enemies, the effort is already reaping results. This week, in a pronounced shift from its usual theatrical style, the Taliban announced that it will no longer refer to its favorite method of murder as “beheadings,” but will henceforth employ the expression “cephalic attrition.”
….
In Darfur….the archaic term “genocide” — so broad and vague as to be meaningless — has now been supplanted by “maximum-intensity racial profiling.”

Via Ann Althouse

Irish Class, April 6, 2009

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Irish Class, April 6, 2009

Rang Gaeilge, 6ú lá mí Aibreáin

At least half the lights in the classroom were out this evening. Casually looking around was no problem, but reading my notes or the fine print in the dictionary was hard. I felt foggy in my head, and made several stupid mistakes. I mentioned this to Wes, and he will try to get it fixed for next time. Just in case, I might bring a small flashlight.

Cleachtadh Aistrithe — Translation Exercise

Lit. “Exercise of translation”

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