Showers, Sobriety and Synonyms, by Bernadett Buda

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Sunday Miscellany 6 min 6 chapters transcribed 6 hours ago

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What is the European Day of Languages and why does it matter for language lovers?

Unknown 0:00

Did you know that the twenty sixth of September has been celebrated as the European Day of Languages since two thousand and one? Literary events, language tournaments and discussions are organized by cultural and educational institutions throughout Europe every year to mark the occasion. As a language teacher, I browsed with interest a long list of activities online. I came across a festival in Norway, the title of which, a quotation from the philosopher Wittgenstein, I really liked. The limits of my language are the limits of my world. Isn't this such a profound truth? In my native Hungarian, we have a saying that resonates with this. A nation lives in its language. So words and phrases in a given language may keep evolving, adjusting to ever changing circumstances, but there is a common thread of logic and tone that is preserved, making the language particular to its native speakers.

How do Irish rain‑related expressions illustrate the link between language and environment?

Unknown 1:11

Whatever is in the forefront of speakers' minds, their language will expand generously to convey the meanings that are most frequently called for. The best example of this I've come across was that the Inuit have dozens of words for snow, as snow has prime importance in the everyday existence of the Inuit people. Similarly, the Irish can take pride in using a myriad of rain related expressions and know exactly which word to apply at any time to precisely describe the current weather. They know the difference between soft Irish days and when it is lashing, bucketing, or God forbid hammering down. Some expressions I found confusing at first but I will never forget one particular conversation shortly after my arrival in Ireland.

Unknown 2:10

One dull afternoon I asked the person how his day was going. To which his face contorted into a grimace and he said Ah, I got badly caught in the shower this morning.

Why did a simple question about the weather turn into an awkward ‘shower’ story in Ireland?

Unknown 2:24

All I could say was Oh Totally taken aback by this sudden rush of intimacy on his part. The information the man had just shared with me was much too private for my ears. After all, it was really not my business that he had got trapped in his own bathroom while taking a shower. Thankfully he carried on the conversation, oblivious to my embarrassment, and soon I realized he was just talking about the showery weather that morning. It's something I've had to get used to since moving to Ireland. The truth is some form of sea mist, drizzle, or spitting rain will occur one hundred and fifty one days annually, even in the sunny southeast of Ireland, and two hundred and twenty-five days a year in the west, as recorded by Irish weather stations.

Unknown 3:18

Ringsand, County Dublin, boasts the driest weather station in the country receiving six hundred eighty nine millimeters of rain per year on average. Now I know where to go next when I move house.

Which Irish locations have the driest weather and how does that affect where to live?

Unknown 3:32

Dublin Airport also looks like an attractive spot for my next dwelling, as findings confirm, it has the lowest number of wet days in a year. It could be a tat too noisy for my liking, though. All of these linguistic musings came to mind when I recently overheard two young Irishmen exchanging stories of boozy knights out. From a linguistic standpoint, I was impressed by the sheer range of colorful vocabulary used by the storytellers. After a few moments of listening in fascination, I The language teacher in me couldn't help interrupting. May I ask how many synonyms do you know for the word inebriated? Loads came the quick reply, followed by a list right off the bat. I started jotting.

How many synonyms for ‘inebriated’ can Irish youngsters list without a thesaurus?

Unknown 4:27

Before we knew it we had eighteen words. Can you make it twenty? Or twenty five? I urged, thinking of the impressive range of Inuit vocabulary for snow. I should point out that in our impromptu linguistic survey the We did not use a thesaurus or Google search. What I wanted to record were the words genuinely dwelling in the heads of these young Irish lads. The list quickly grew to twenty five words. Could they come up with thirty?

What are the most vivid Irish slang words for drunkenness and why do they sound so funny?

Unknown 5:02

They could, and they did. In the end I had a list of thirty three words no less to My personal favourites of synonyms rustled of that day are fluttered, mangled, and ossified.