Go mbeannaí Dia daoibh, welcome back film buffs and Netflix nerds to the wonderful world of the Bluffer’s Guide to Irish.
Most people like going to the pictiúrlann - the cinema although more and more people are getting their scannáin - films through streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
But the question today, dear readers, is which movie title best describes your life?
If your life is like Reservoir Dogs or The Shining, best to keep it for your therapy sessions but with Christmas only 28 days until Christmas, you might be ar dhruim na muice - on the pig’s back or there is a common idiomatic phrase in Irish which goes tá saol an mhadaidh bháin agam - I have the life of the white dog, meaning things are going really well for me.
(I don’t know who the original white dog was but he must have been truly pampered.)
If everything is going swimmingly for you, then your film title might be What a Wonderful World! - and you don’t necessarily have to have an angel sent from heaven to help you.
Or if you live a humdrum life that is leadránach - boring and you tell your friends bíonn mo shaol mar a gcéanna lá i ndiaidh lae - my life is the same, day in, day out then you obviously are living a Groundhog Day.
Or when everything seems to be going wrong and no matter what you do, it has no positive results, then life can seem like Mission Impossible.
Ní thig liom dul chun cinn a dhéanamh means I can’t make any progress whether it’s writing an essay or planning a jewel heist.
Most peoples’ lives however are thíos seal, thuas seal - up and down, a mixture of highs and lows.
It contains an mhaith - the good, an t-olc - the bad and an míofar - the ugly.
(See what the Bluffer just did there?!)
There have been times in the Bluffer’s spell on this earth that have resembled Night of the Living Dead, not because the dead suddenly come back to life as bloodthirsty, flesh-eating monsters but due to a super-abundance of strong alcohol – a Cocktail too many – and when he awoke he remained in La La Land.
The Hangover was cured by a glass of Beetlejuice and some Duck Soup.
Your life could be like a scannán grinn - a comedy, a coiméide rómansúil - a romantic comedy or, God forbid, a sceinséir - a thriller.
A lot of us spend our time daydreaming, imagining an end to all our worries and we create our own scannán fantaisíochta - fantasy film in our heads.
Or we spend our time singing along to ourselves as if we were in a scannán ceoil - a musicals as we absent-mindedly hum I Was Born Under a Wandering Star a la Lee Marvin in Paint your Wagon or belt out Let it go, Let it go/ Can’t hold it back anymore/Let it go, Let if go/Turn away and slam the door if you are a fan of Frozen.
Cairde - friends, besties are sometimes given names of film characters as in “Oh, look there goes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or (unkindly) “Those idiots are worse than Dumb and Dumber” or three close friends might be called The Three Musketeers.
The language of film has long permeated our lives so for the time being, it’s The Long Goodbye from the Bluffer.
CÚPLA FOCAL
pictiúrlann(pictoorlaan) - the cinema
scannáin(scanaan) - films
ar dhruim na muice(er grim na mwicke) - on the pig’s back
tá saol an mhadaidh bháin agam(taa seel a’ wadee waan ugum) - things are going really well for me.
leadránach(ladraanakh) - boring bíonn mo shaol mar a gcéanna lá i ndiaidh lae (beean maw heel mar a geerna laa i nyay lay) - my life is the same, day in, day out
Ní thig liom dul chun cinn a dhéanamh(nee hig lum dul hun kin a yanoo) - I can’t make any progress
thíos seal, thuas seal(heess shaal, hooiss shaal) - a mixture of highs and lows.
an mhaith(un why) - the good
an t-olc(un tulc) - the bad
an míofar(un meefer) - the ugly
scannán grinn(scanaan grin)- a comedy
coiméide rómansúil (comayja roemansooil) - a romantic comedy
sceinséir (scaynshare) - a thriller
scannán fantaisíochta(scanaan fantasheeokhta) - a fantasy film
cairde(carja) - friends