Taoiseach
Shur I can do dis durnk!





B. Cowen
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 13:42, 27 replies)

The hard part is spelling it
...since it's pronounced "tea-shock", isn't it?

On the other hand, being paralytically drunk is probably the only explanation for Irish spelling...
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 14:18, closed)

I always get it confused with
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Stoff
(sabre-tooth monkey, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 14:36, closed)

When I first heard this
I thought it was "tea-shop"
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Tue 14 Sep 2010, 14:41, closed)

Other languages always confuse the English.
(sionnach, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 16:12, closed)

Well it's Johnny's fault for being so lazy.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 16:33, closed)

It's not a criticism of the language
...just of the way it's written. I tried to learn a little, and discovered that many of the letters you write have no associated sound in the word, and many of the sounds in the word don't have a letter to represent them. That's poor design.

For the sake of balance, I will freely accept that English spelling is *almost* as perverse -- but not quite.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 16:38, closed)

As I was pointing out recently
ghoti = fish
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:01, closed)

Cough, rough, bought, though, through, plough, hiccough, borough

and so on.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:08, closed)

Discussions like this make me think of Keighley.
I'm not sure that anyone could work out how it is pronounced from the spelling. Anneka Rice certainly didn't.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:24, closed)

I would pronounce that "Kay-Lee"
Which is probably butchering it.
(Turtlenuts, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 14:00, closed)

Butchered
Keith-lee
And dont even try Slaithwaite
(therealche, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 18:04, closed)

I George Bernard Shaw
recently a hundred and thirty-odd years ago.

:P
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:16, closed)

He was pointing it out recently, was he?
:p
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:30, closed)

I'll point you out in a minute.























Look! There he is!
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 18:57, closed)

No, it's a completely idiotic language, perfectly suited to the natives, as this recent incident demonstrates - not to mention the Minister for Science!
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 18:33, closed)

Oh Jaysus I read about...
that this morning. Does he not have people to tell him about this kind of thing? The Minister for Science (albeit a junior ministry) attending that ridiculous book launch is just...well, it's just a bit IRISH is what it is.
I don't care if the author is a personal friend! A Minister for Science should not be seen at a book launch for a book that denies evolution. Gahhhhhh! Sometimes I bloody hate Ireland and I'm a bloody native and I've lived here all my bloody life.
(Mediumsizedbear is trying to be littler., Tue 14 Sep 2010, 18:47, closed)

Likewise
But you have to admire their doggedness in sticking to their national stereotype, the whole way to the top, regardless of what the Eurocrats insist upon. Drunkeness, ignorance and fecklessness - it could be Eire's motto!
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 23:02, closed)

Indeed..
I suppose the utter refusal to learn from mistakes (or to learn at ALL) is a 'quality' some of our top brass possess in spades. Lest we forget, Calamity Coughlan recently attributed the theory of evolution to Einstein (or was it the theory of relativity to Darwin?).
They're an embarrassment. I wish I had the money to just leave.
(Mediumsizedbear is trying to be littler., Wed 15 Sep 2010, 9:41, closed)

It's probably genetic - small island, isolated, sexually repressed etc. I heard somewhere that Ireland has higher rates of diabetes, coeliac disease and possibly schizophrenia than the rest of Europe. Oh and the Ne Temere decree probably has a macrogenetic effect something like inbreeding.
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 12:17, closed)

You're correct about
the genetic isolation, we have a super-high rate of cystic fibrosis here and a South African acquaintance of mine is appalled at the cancer rate (the genetic ones like breast, prostate etc.) We badly need a bit of genetic diversity!
(Mediumsizedbear is trying to be littler., Wed 15 Sep 2010, 14:51, closed)

South Africans, now there's a great bunch of lads!

Personally, I have Gaelic, Norman, English and French ancestry, all in the last few generations, so I'm perfectly British!
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 17:50, closed)

Dull Prick now outs himself as dull Racist Prick

( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 19:01, closed)

It's not pronounced "tea shock."
Or rather, it shouldn't be.
( Dr Preference AjcuiVd289, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 15:22, closed)

According to Wikipedia...
It's /ˈtiːʃəx/; in English, which transliterates approximately as "teeshukh".
I bow to any native Irish speakers who can provide a better guide.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 15:57, closed)

You're not the only Sasanach to trip over that pronunciation
After Ireland were beaten by Italy in 1990, then-Taoiseach Charlie Haughey visited the dressing room. Niall Quinn remembered: "Those of us brought up in Ireland stood there in amazement as he made a speech about sporting sons of Ireland. It was totally hair standing up on the back of the neck stuff. But not everyone was from Ireland. Tony Cascarino was behind me and said loudly: 'Who the f*** is that?', ruining the moment. I said: 'that's the Taoiseach'. Andy Townsend was beside him and said loudly again: 'Who is it, Cas?' And he said: 'Dunno. Quinny said he owns a tea shop.'"
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 17:47, closed)

Been there, done that, bought the taoiseach.
(Chuck-Key Allah, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 17:33, closed)

Yes, but for how much?
(Clerk T Hazarde are all the wine, Wed 15 Sep 2010, 12:17, closed)