The only other place that I’ve come across that term albeit here in the singular, is where I now live where the usual greeting from locals is “Ey up duck”. But we’re about 120 miles north of London.
When I absent mindedly write Trefor Elis?
When you pay good money online for a Welsh Scrabble set, quite a few years after giving one away on Freecycle “because I can’t see myself ever needing that…”.
Anywhere near where the ducks play football?
No Waddles up here.
…your entire family - who still aren’t learning Welsh - break spontaneously into Mae popeth yn osym! after dinner, led by your 5-yr-old
Gwych!
Reminds me of writing my first essay in Russian when learning at school more than half a century ago and including the phrase ‘да здравствует тараканам!’ (long live cockroaches!). Really useful eh!?
That reminds me of the time I started a course “Russian for scientists”. I dropped out after lesson two, but I clearly remember learning: Резерфорд говорит: “Где мой циклотрон?” (Rutherford says “Where is my cyclotron?”) True!
I did that course and it came in useful later! In a Vacation job asking passengers at Heathrow about their journey, I translated them into sn attempt at Russian, which i never needed! “Do you have an interpreter with you?” In the early 60s got an instant, “yes” so I could carry on in English! I did all the Russian flights as nobody else dared! Then, at work I translated the occasional paper!
When you look at a car number-plate and just see Welsh words. Earlier today I saw CA15 BYD…
Cais = try (think rugby)
Byd = world (as in “Small world”…)
To lose one cyclotron would be unfortunate. To lose two sounds like downright carelessness comrade!
you go to Italy and try to learn a few useful words and phrases, but whenever you try to communicate with non-English speakers (which Italy is full of :O) ) your mind just fills up with Welsh and sometimes I even automatically ended up saying a few words of Welsh in desperation. (Why doesn’t this happen when trying to speak in Welsh??)
Also when you hear/read Italian and knowledge of Welsh somehow helps understanding so much. This would be the Latin words from when the Romans settled in Wales I believe (eg oriau[cymraeg] = hours, ora [Italiano]= hour). And how is it that left and right seem so similar (Left = Chwith = cinstra, Right = De =Destro ???) [these spellings are probably way wrong, but I heard this at every station on the Italian underground railway, i think Italians don’t like to look stupid and stand expectantly on the wrong side of the train for the platform!))
When you want (or even have to) write down something in English on Facebook but you can’t force your brains to think in any other language but Welsh (not even native one) and your fingers start to type Welsh sentences down untill you realize you actually wanted to write the things in English.
It happens all day to me today and then sometimes I delete Welsh replacing it with English and sometimes I do not … Trying to explain Slovenian word in English I had to force myself to do that …
This all is starting to be really “wierd”. (and I like it)
Co-worker says: “Kle maš.” (Here you are) giving me something.
Me: “Diolch”
Co-worker: “Ja, ja, Diolch.”
Me: “Ne, ti rečeš ‘Croeso’” (No, you should say Croeso).
(First mini-lesson done)
When you realize that you’re talking to the cat in Welsh, without really thinking about it!
When she learns to answer in Welsh, get yourself an agent, and call S4C.
You know you are learning Welsh when:
- You walk into Sainsbury in Oxford, someone offers you a basket at the door, and you hesitate with “Diolch” on your lips before managing to say “Thank you”.
- Your credit card statement shows that all your recent on-line purchases have been books in Welsh.
- A family history search leads to an obituary in a newspaper. It is in Welsh. Instead of thinking “Oh well, never mind”, you attempt to read it and understand the main points although the flowery language escapes you. The poor girl was a teacher, only 17 years old, and a paragon of all the virtues. There was something complimentary about the minister, and a warning to all young men and women to be equally virtuous in case they too met their fates.
On the same theme
Inscription (in English) on the gravestone of my 4xgreat grandmother in Llanstinan.
“Hark from the tomb a doleful sound my ears avail the cry.
My children dear come view the ground where you will shortly lie.”
(With thanks to the person, name forgotten, who transcribed it.)
They could be a cheerful lot, those Victorians(?) couldn’t they?
She died in 1807, but her husband died in 1820 and they had matching gravestones so they may have been placed after his death. Probably in the time of George III or George IV then.
His gravestone reads:
“My friends forebear your tears for me, submit to the divine decree.
May all who view my silent tomb prepare to meet this final doom.”
As you said, a cheerful lot.
… you start ignoring the English half of bilingual stuff. Apologies to you @AnthonyCusack for doing this with your St Fagans post. Not only that, but spending time checking if Band Pres Ayyb was a short/polite name for Band Pres Llareggub Then, somewhere from the distant past, my brain reminded me that it could mean “etc”. Strangely the international (but not Welsh) Free Dictionary confirmed this to be the case. Now I notice that Anthony had already provided the English version.
Does anyone know if ayyb is an international abbreviation of equal status to etc & usw?