Irish Translation Forum

This may sound a bit weird, But I am just curious on how to say idiot in gaelic.

Amadán = Idiot
A Amadáin = (When you are addressing an idiot)

How would I pronounce that?

I'd say AMA-daan (stress the 'ama' sound)

Apparently the word idiot changes depending on the gender of whom you're calling an idiot:

Male idiot: Amadán
Female idiot: Óinseach

An Treasach wrote:I'd say AMA-daan (stress the 'ama' sound)

it'd be like that in the Ulster dialect, and a bit like
oma-DAWN
in the Munster dialect (going from north to south), stressing the 'dawn' sound.

There'll also be a Connact dialect way of saying it (well loads of ways really, but they're the 'big three' when distinguishing accents and all that), so if one of our Conamara heads wants to give phonetics then you should wait for that (provided they don't just say "an hidiot"... you wouldn't know half the time with that crowd ná bí neamhalright anois like )

Benjamin wrote:Female idiot: Óinseach

That's bollocks, I've been called an óinseach plenty of times! (which i had, up to now, taken as endearing.... but ya.... now that i think about it.... (and i knew it was that case already like, i just didn't cop that it was the case with me!! )

but ya, benjamin's right i think...

Not sure how much óinseach would be used for "female idiot" in Connemara. There it also means "bitch" or "slut" or, well, something along those lines - I didn't get the details but I was given the impression it would be a bit of a shocker.

I'd pronounce amadán AWMadawn (i.e. as if it were spelled ámadán.)

Thanks. I was just trying to have something to call my sis...^^

BuachaillBeo wrote:

An Treasach wrote:I'd say AMA-daan (stress the 'ama' sound)

it'd be like that in the Ulster dialect, and a bit like
oma-DAWN
in the Munster dialect (going from north to south), stressing the 'dawn' sound.

There'll also be a Connact dialect way of saying it (well loads of ways really, but they're the 'big three' when distinguishing accents and all that), so if one of our Conamara heads wants to give phonetics then you should wait for that (provided they don't just say "an hidiot"... you wouldn't know half the time with that crowd ná bí neamhalright anois like )

Oma-dawn? Geez a BB! that sounds very Mike Oldfield...