Mallacht!

[pennfana]

Many years ago, long enough ago that it was possibly while I was still in high school, I stumbled upon a web page called "An tInneall Mallachtaí: The Curse Engine." It would, as the name suggests, generate curses in Irish Gaelic Irish, based on selections made by the page's visitors. (An Irish acquaintance of mine—someone I know from my more active days in the X-Files fandom—insists that the proper name for the language is Irish; if I understand correctly, calling it "Irish Gaelic" is a mistake on par with calling a tomato a suspension bridge. And because this is her language and culture, I believe her.) Some of the possible combinations were quite funny.

Unfortunately, the page went down years ago. But someone's brought it back. I stumbled upon it this afternoon when I was taking a break from some rather serious reading that I was doing. And this means that even though I don't know how to pronounce it, I now know that "Go bpléasca na gráinneoga mioscaiseacha do chuid gruaige" means "May the malevolent hedgehogs blow up your hair!"

...I really should get back to my book. :)

Comments

[voxangelus.livejournal.com]

I REMEMBER THIS!

Pardon while I squee a little from nostalgia.

My favorite one from back then was Go n-ithe cúnna ifrinn do caloga arbhair" which was "may the hounds of hell eat your cornflakes". Cornflakes are no longer an option. Porridge, somehow, isn't as funny.

[pennfana.livejournal.com]

No, it isn't. Still, maybe it could be given a bit of a leg-up in the humour department. I mean, "Go n-aora bolgán béice ollmhór do bhrachán" ("may an enormous puff ball satirize your porridge") made me chuckle a bit. :)

[bdouville.livejournal.com]

How about this one?

"Go bpléasca bolgán béice ollmhór do dhea-chlú"

("May an enormous puffball blow up your good reputation.")

[pennfana.livejournal.com]

Hee!

I rather like "Go gcreime an Cat Mara do thiomántán crua" ("may the Sea Cat gnaw at your hard drive") myself. :)