Date: Fri, 4 Jul 1997
From: Dennis King
To: GAEILGE-B
Subject: For More Colorful Irish...


Tá sé ar mhuin na muice.
[TAW shay ehr WIHN nuh MWIH-kyuh]

= He's on top of the world. (lit., He's on the pig's back.)


Tá éisteacht na muice bradaí agat.
[TAW AYSH-chuhkht nuh MWIH-kyuh BRAH-dee AH-guht]

= You have sharp ears. (lit., You have the hearing of the thieving pig.)


Ní fiú tufóg mhuice é.
[NEE FYOO TU-fohg WIH-kyuh ay]

= It's not worth a rat's ass. (lit., It's not worth a pig's fart.)


Thug sí íde na muc is na madraí dó.
[HUG shee EE-juh nuh MUK iss nuh MAH-dree doh]

= She really chewed him out, lambasted him.
  (lit., She gave him the abuse of the pigs and the dogs.)


Is iad na muca ciúine a itheann an mhin.
[SHEE-uhd nuh MU-kuh KYOO-nyuh uh IH-huhn uh VIHN]

= It's the quiet pigs that eat the meal [ground grain].

Níl a fhios agam an bhfuil leathbhreac an tseanfhocail seo i mBéarla.
(I don't know if there is an equivalent to this proverb in English.)

Ciallaíonn sé go bhfuil daoine ciúine, nach dtarraingíonn aird orthu
féin, in ann soláthar dóibh féin go han-mhaith.

(It means that quiet people, who do not attract a lot of attention, are
quite capable of taking care of themselves.)


The forms of "muc":

muc - a pig
an mhuc - the pig
muice - of a pig
na muice - of the pig
muca - pigs
na muca - the pigs
na muc - of the pigs