GO mBEANNAÍ Dia daoibh agus bhur gcéad fáilte isteach chuig The Bluffer’s Guide to Irish.
Yes, welcome to the first Bluffer of 2017 and hopefully this page and the idea of going to Irish classes are amongst your rúin na hAthbhliana - New Year’s resolutions.
So how would you tell people what you intend acheiving this year?
You could say tá rún agam meáchan a chailleadh - I intend to lose weight as most of us do as the Bluffer pictures himself as a young Rudolf Nureyev while the laydeez see themselves as either of the Williams tennis sisters, depending on how ambitious they are.
Tá rún aige stopadh de na toitíní - He intends giving up the cancer sticks/fags/smokes is another seasonal resolution.
When you say tá rún agam ... you are saying you definitely intend doing something although you could add the word daingean as in tá rún daingean agam Gaeilge a fhoghlaim where you go into "I’m going to learn Irish if it kills me" territory.
Of course, you could swap Gaeilge for another language such as Spanish or Vietnamese and use the structure above ... Spáinnis a fhoghlaim, Vítneaimis a fhoghlaim, etc.
A less didactic way of saying what good use you are going to put 2017 to you is to say tá sé ar intinn agam - I am thinking about .,. so tá sé ar intinn agamscíáil a fhoghlaim - I am thinking about learning how to ski or tá sé ar intinn agam mo phost a fhágáil - I’m thinking about leaving my job.
To say what you'd love to happen, you could say ba bhreá liom .. as in ba bhreá liom airgead a chur i dtaisce gach mí - I’d love to put some money away every month or ba bhreá liom na fiacha a ghlanadh - I’d love to clear my debts.
With this wish-list, you are probably floating off to a dreamland where you and everybody else is thin and lovely although a little bit weird, like a Donald Trump family photograph.
Where your energy levels would be slightly more than an army of Duracell bunnies, where the sun is always shining and where the credit cards and credit unions are all paid off.
Where you feel validated and valued and loved by friends and family alike.
Of course, these are all 21st Century wish lists.
In other parts of the world they might be saying ba bhreá liom go stopfadh an bhuamáil - I’d love for the bombing to stop because they live in Yemen or Syria or Afghanistan or any other part of the world that is being pulverised as you read this.
Many people will be wanting their loved ones back but the world of 2017 looks like it’s going to create more innocent victims than ever before.
And many more men, women and children would be ecstatic just to have some shelter and enough food to keep them alive.
Now the Bluffer doesn’t mention these things to make people feel guilty. The world power structure that has designed to keep people like us out of the loop and there ain’t a lot we can do about it.
What we can do is to show as much love as we can in our lives not just to those who deserve it but to those who probably don’t as well.
The state isn’t going to look after us so we are going to have to do it for ourselves. All we have is each other.
So, with that in mind, what things would you like to change over the next 12 months?
CÚPLA FOCAL
Rúin na hAthbhliana(roon ne havleeana) - New Year’s resolutions
tá rún agam meáchan a chailleadh(taa roon ugum maakhaan a khylyoo) -- I intend to lose weight
tá rún aige stopadh de na toitíní (taa roon aigy dtawpoo de na tutcheenee) -- He intends giving up cigarettes
tá rún daingean agam Gaeilge a fhoghlaim(ta roon dangin ugum gaylick a olim) -- I really intend to learn Irish
tá sé ar intinn agamscíáil a fhoghlaim(ta shay er incheen ugum skeeaal a olim) - I am thinking about learning how to ski
tá sé ar intinn agam mo phost a fhágáil(ta shay er incheen ugum maw fust a aagaal) - I’m thinking about leaving my job
ba bhreá liom airgead a chur i dtaisce gach mí(ba vraa lum aragid a kher i dttashka gakh mee) - I’d love to put some money away every month
ba bhreá liom na fiacha a ghlanadh(ba vraa lum na feeakha a glanoo) - I’d love to clear my debts
ba bhreá liom go stopfadh an bhuamáil(ba vraa lum gaw stophoo an wooamaal) - I’d love the bombing to stop
