Want to learn Irish without any effort? Start with the weather at the end of the news bulletins on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta - you'll begin to recognise frequently used phrases and can pick up the odd gem - like 'salachar báistí' - 'a filth of rain'.
Okay, so it actually translates as 'drizzle' or 'mist', only way better.
Staying with that filthy theme, here are some filthy curses to cast upon those who really get your goat.
A mallacht is the Gaeilge for 'curse' and, to a lesser extent, ‘swear’.
1.
"Go dtugadh an deabhail coirce duit agus clochadh beaga tríd."
"May the divil give you porridge oats full of tiny little stones!"
Tis a cruel one, literally cursing you to starvation. A kindlier interpretation might be that you are given something wonderful that turns out to be rotten – like a sports car without an engine, a house without a roof, or a Government with no intention of keeping its pre-election promises.
2.
"Scread mhaidine ort!"
"Confound you!" is the sanitised version but the literal is far tastier – "May you wake up screaming in the morning!" – essentially, may you lose your mind to madness. May be interpreted as "May you die screaming."
3.
"Go lí cúnna ifrinn do thiomántán crua"
"May the dogs of hell lick your hardrive!"
Unconventional, quite modern, created by me using An tInneall Mallachtaí - The Curse Engine.
DO try this at home!
You'll recognise Tadhg from 'Ros na Rún' on TG4.
And for more on this fantastic topic, there's always Manchán.
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Listen to Manchán Magan speaking to Fachtna Ó Drisceoil about wonderful mallachtaí.
