Irish-Language

Everyone’s idea of a perfect day is different - lockdown permitting

<b>LAUGHING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY:</b> The weather doesn&rsquo;t have to be great for a family to have a great time together and in these straitened times, people are learning to enjoy the little they have&nbsp;
LAUGHING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY: The weather doesn’t have to be great for a family to have a great time together and in these straitened times, people are learning to enjoy the little they have  LAUGHING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY: The weather doesn’t have to be great for a family to have a great time together and in these straitened times, people are learning to enjoy the little they have 

GREETINGS to Gael and Gall and everyone in between, it’s your favourite Bluffer’s Guide to Irish once again.

How’s she cuttin’? Is the dianghlasáil - lockdown getting you down or are you ag baint lántairbhe as?- taking full advantage of it?

Cad é mar atá tú ag caitheamh do laethanta? means how are you spending your days?

An bhfuil tú ar thréimhse scoir? - are you on furlough?

Is it like indulging in your favourite way to spend a day off – but every day?

I doubt it. Most people will be worried about having a job to go back to or whether they’ll even be safe going back to work.

But there will also be many people for whom the lockdown has been a Godsend, day after day of doing the things they enjoy - presuming they aren’t home- schooling! 

So what would your favourite day consist off? Depends, I presume.

D’fhanfainn i mo luí go dtí an meánlae - I’d stay in bed until midday is what many early risers would say but others would be afraid of missing out on life rather than sleeping through it so, they might say chaithfinn an lá ag spaisteoireacht - I’d spend the day strolling around the backstreets of Derry or the Benburb Valley Park  – a lovely walk, btw – or cois na farraige - beside the sea.

Some people find great release in rothaíocht - cycling and there certainly seems to be more people out on two wheels than ever before.

Snámh - swimming is brilliant for making you feel really alive and many people the Bluffer has spoken to have said they feel much better during the lockdown, although in some cases, they are probably referring to the lack of a tinneas póite - a hangover with the pubs being closed!

However, others are enjoying the saoirse - freedom to slow down and to think about what life is for, what they should be doing each hour of the day.

What would you do if you had total freedom?

There would be dinnéar le cairde - dinner  with friends, am feabhaisleis an teaghlach - quality time with the family or maybe even some obair dheonach - voluntary work.

Sadly in these times of neo-con and neo-lib governments, you could work in one of the many bancanna bia - food banks that are becoming a permanent feature of life in our cities.

The lockdown has certainly shown the neamhionannas - the inequality that is prevalent all around us.

There are those who can benefit from the time off work and others for whom it could be the death-knell.

They don’t worry about cheap flights because they can’t afford them or eat local because they only have the wherewithal to make meals at home.

But most of the things that make a perfect day mentioned earlier don’t cost money.

Lying in bed or resting is free, walking in the hills or by the river are cost-free, spending time with friends and family doesn’t have to cost anything and neither does having a sing-song, reviving happy memories, telling jokes and lots of laughter, these can also make a perfect day no matter who you are.

CÚPLA FOCAL

dianghlasáil(jeeanglasaal) - lockdown 

ag baint lántairbhe as? (eg bwintch laantirava iss) - taking full advantage of it?

Cad é mar atá tú ag caitheamh do laethanta?(cadge ay mar ataa too eg kyhoo daw layhanta) - how are you spending your days?

An bhfuil tú ar thréimhse scoir?(un wil too er hrevsha skir) - are you on furlough?

D’fhanfainn i mo luí go dtí an mheánlae(danheen i maw lee gaw jee un maanlay) - I’d stay in bed until midday 

chaithfinn an lá ag spaisteoireacht(khiyeen un laa eg spashtoreakht) - I’d spend the day strolling

cois na farraige(cush ne fareega) - beside the sea

rothaíocht(roheeakht) - cycling

snámh(snaow) - swimming

tinneas póite(chinyiss pawtcha) - a hangover

dinnéar le cairde(jinyayr le carja) - dinner with friends 

am feabhaisleis an teaghlach(am fyoeesh lesh un chaolakh) - quality time with the family 

obair dheonach(ubber yoenakh) - voluntary work

bancanna bia(bancana beea) - food banks

neamhionannas(nyaow-unaniss) - inequality