Irish Translation Forum

Wanted to confirm 2 translations for tattoos.

Nothing without effort - Tada gan iarracht

and

The Strong Survive - Maireann an láidir

I am brand new at learning so any suggestions help, Thanks in advance.

Maybe Faic gan Iarracht would work better. Wait for more opinions on this. The other looks good but again wait for more.

tada, dada, faic, pioc... they're interchangeable I think.

Thanks for the input been helpful so far.

iora_rua wrote:tada, dada, faic, pioc... they're interchangeable I think.

Hmm, I think you are right that they are interchangeable, but I also think that in most cases they all mean "something" or "anything" without a negative in front of them to make them mean "nothing".

Níl tada gan iarracht. "(There is) nothing without effort."

Maireann an láidir looks good. The meaning "survive" might be a little clearer with beo though: Maireann an láidir beo. Just a thought.

"faic gan iarracht" is fine in colloqual Irish and fine for a slogan on a tattoo. I think it be readily understood among native speakers as Nothing Without Trying" 'faic' literally means a scrap of something, a tiny bit, almost nothing. "Gan faic" literally without a tiny bit = absolutely nothing. The wonderful thing for me about an teanga is that you CAN'T just translate it literally into English.

Sez he to me "cad tá ar siuil leatsa" sez I to him "Faic! duitse?" [What's happening mate? Bugger-all! And yourself?].

EDIT 20091230/2150: for pansyninja: "Maireann [an] té laidir" is the correct form for "The Strong Survive". 'laidir' (in the context you want it) is a human trait. "The Strong" in English would be understood as the strong people. In Irish we are rather more precise and insist that one knows we are talking about 'té laidir' (strong person). I don't know if I'm making sense to y'all so I'll jokingly remind you that 'tae laidir' means 'strong tea' and get out of this edit while I'm still winning.

fallagofalla wrote:"faic gan iarracht" is fine in colloqual Irish and fine for a slogan on a tattoo. I think it be readily understood among native speakers as Nothing Without Trying" 'faic' literally means a scrap of something, a tiny bit, almost nothing. "Gan faic" literally without a tiny bit = absolutely nothing. The wonderful thing for me about an teanga is that you CAN'T just translate it literally into English. Sez he to me "cad tá ar siuil agat" sez I to him "Faic" [What's happening mate? Bugger-all!].

Yes, I've encountered that usage in an answer before. I was wondering about longer utterences, though. Thanks for the clarification. So by extension, can the OP's Tada gan iarracht also be used in the same way? (My guess is yes.)

In longer sentences of course "Níl faic agam" = " I have nothing". "Tá faic agam" = "I don't have much".
Sez he to me "Conas atá do [chuid] saibhreas?" sez me to he "Tá faic agam"
[Have oo e'er a few bob, hawh? Begob now tis very little I have to jingle].
Amazing as it might seem I've heard BOTH the Irish and the English examples during my lifetime and not only that but the pair [beirt] who were conversing as bearla were BOTH native Irish speakers. But for sheer brass neck you couldn't beat the 'begger' who asked me "An bfuil air a foo bob i'd póca 'gat? Ta thart mór orm" My reply was "Tá! ... faic! ... ach níl sé cun deoc d'fáil duitse" a giolle. And do tharla é sin ar bhun na sraide graftoine in 'Áth Clíath' timpeall 1962.

Oops: EDIT: forgot to address 'tada'. Although the words are almost of the same meaning and certainly share the same rules of grammar 'tada' in my experience would not be used in the same CONTEXT as 'faic'. I think would be inappropriate for a tattoo he's going to have to live with.

I'll wait and see if we can bait a gaeilgóir nios laidre ná mise to explain the difference between the two or even the whole list. You kinda know which one to use when you're actually talking with a native speaker. (I'm not by the way. I was born in the breach-gealtacht mór timpeall Rinn o gCúanach and was fed Irish with my mother's milk and then lost it when I went to school)

Sin i bhfad níos gaire don Ghaeltacht ná mise, a chara. Your insights are very interesting.

Just to stir a little:

láidir is actually also a noun (beside being an adjective) meaning 'strong person/creature'.