Cadw doesn’t translate all the meanings of ‘keep’, I’m afraid - so you’ll want something like ‘Daliwch ati i ddawnsio’ or ‘Mwynhewch y ddawns’ ayyb… 
1 Like
To @aran A while back I mentioned ewythyr meaning Uncle and was told it is terribly old fashioned and one of the words only aged folk like me would understand. Yesterday I was watching S4C with my little dog and saw the end of a program where a bachgen ifanc posts a letter thanking for a present. Later we got to see the envelope, clearly addressed to “Ewythyr Sion”. So has it come back into fashion???
No, not really (unfortunately) - but whoever told you that only old people would understand it was over-cooking it somewhat - I’m sure there are people who wouldn’t be familiar with it, but I know plenty of people who understand it fine, even if they don’t use it… 
My new favourite online dictionary, Gweiadur.com gives 3 possibles:
uncle noun dewyrth masculine, ewa masculine, ewythr masculine
http://www.gweiadur.com/en/Pawb/$uncle
(You have to register, but once registered it’s very good).
http://geiriadur.bangor.ac.uk/#uncle&sln=en gives it as the only option, with 2 plurals:
ewythr ( ewythrod, ewythredd )
and so does http://www.geiriadur.net (only giving ewythredd as the plural)
1 Like
Thanks!! I see I spelled it wrong… I remembered the sound not the look!! I don’t actually have any living ewythredd… they’d have to be pretty old… but it’s nice to know that the word I’d naturally use would be understood!!
Would anyone have a Welsh exclamation equivalent to English ‘blast’ or ‘rats’? A friend (actually a friend, not just me using a writer’s euphemism!) has a Welsh character in one of her stories who is in need of a word to use when a rock thrown at a pesky cat misses.
Diolch yn fawr!
Myf
I have a book of idioms and it says Go drapia! for Drat it!. It is also used in L5 of Level 1 in the first listening exercise for the North (but he mutates it Go ddrapia!). In the South version Iestyn uses O daro!.
1 Like
I had been going to suggest “ych a fi” which I thought meant something like “woe is me”. However, I’ve seen translations like “yuck” or “ugh!” on the web, which don’t quite match. I’ve also seen it suggested that it’s quite rude (i.e. tasteless).
I have an app called “Cymraeg i’r Teulu” which gives a preview of the first three units of the course. It teaches “ych-a-fi” as “yuck” in the unit that deals with food. I wouldn’t think it’s terribly rude if it’s in a course for parents and children
Of course, it’s possible it might be used in other ways with different connotations…I’m not a fluent or native speaker, so I don’t know!
I think that’s actually “ach a fi”, but I could be wrong!! My very respectable Methodist ‘Auntie’ always said it in situations like the one @myfanwya describes, not that she’d ever have thrown anything at a cat! Substitute ‘mouse’ or ‘rat’ and she would certainly have said 'Ach a fi!" if she missed!! (n.b. she wasn’t actually a speaker of Cymraeg, she just lived all her life in Abertawe and Caernarfon!!)
1 Like
I’d go for ‘Go ddrapia!’ here - about as innocent as it gets…
Like a lot of Welsh, there seems to be some variation in the pronunciation, and spelling.
e.g.
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Phrases-and-Sayings/Question103929.html
I learned it from my father-in-law, who was English, but had lived in Wales and learned a lot of Welsh. I think he pronounced it “ach”.
Silly one really - I just can’t seem to say “rhywbeth” properly ( excuse spelling, I am trying to not do any reading, while I do the lessons ). The best I can come up with is “roobeth”, despite loads of practice, which sounds nothing like Iestyn and Kat ( again, excuse spelling if not correct ) and now I am so worried/focussing about how to say it, I can’t get my sentence finished before the time is up if that is one of the words needed. Do I say “roobeth” and get on with the lessons and worry about the pronunciation at a later date, or work harder on the word so I am not getting into bad habits ?
The spelling seems fine; and saying it as “roobeth” is perfectly fine. Many people do, and your pronunciation will improve over time as you relax.
1 Like
Yes, this one exactly…
The aspirate ‘rh’ can be a little tricky for English speakers - it might help a little if you try to imagine an H at the start of it - Hroobeth - but it is not one to worry about, because everyone will understand you just fine without the h…
1 Like
The sound sample here might help if ever you want a quick reminder:
http://www.gweiadur.com/en/Pawb/rhywbeth
(Sorry, you have to register, but it’s free, and I don’t think there are any catches)
The Welsh voices here aren’t too bad for this kind of thing:
https://www.ivona.com
(make sure you choose one of the two Welsh voices, and not the English,Welsh)
An odd one here. Delwyn Siôn gave me a copy of his recent CD Chwilio am America, which I am enjoying very much. I have translated the liner notes and the song titles, but there’s one title that I’m really puzzled about - “Yn Dlysach na Swildod.” I can find the individual words and have some idea of the meaning, but don’t have a good idea how that title might be rendered in English. I do know that it is the about a man’s love for a woman, but that’s as far as I get. Can anyone give me a good idea here?
Thank you both Aran and Mike - I spent a while cleaning the chickens out, while practising my rhywbeth’s, and I think I did one properly ! Obviously the chickens were not able to give an actual mark out of 10, but once I was more relaxed, it seemed a lot easier !
Onwards and upwards.
Luckily I also have geese, so I am sorted for lesson 2
4 Likes
When did pili pala first come into use?
I get the idea that pili pala, now very generally used instead of gloyn byw or ‘the little summer chicken!’ is one of those words that has become current recently (well, since the 60s!!!). True? False? Or is it de/gog? I actually like ‘iar bach yr haf’, but it is longer to say or write than pili pala!!!
It’s not very common usage, and those always sound a bit odd in translation (because they’re usually not common usage in the other language either) - so I’d just go for ‘Prettier than Shyness’.
Not the foggiest, sorry!