Go mbeannaí Dia daoibh, a chairde, hello risk-takers and the risk-averse, you are all welcome to the Bluffer’s Guide to Irish.
Níor cailleadh riamh leath dá ndeachaigh i gcontúirt is the Irish way of saying never venture, never win and it is one of the Bluffer’s favourite sayings as he does like to try new things whenever he can - within reason.
Are you, dear reader, a picky eater or do you like to try new foods?
Chuaigh mé sa seans means I took a risk and it can refer to doing something you’re not comfortable with.
For instance, d’ith mé oisrí an tseachtain seo - I ate oysters this week is what the Bluffer was telling people after a wee trip to Nantes.
Now, he isn’t really a big fan of sliogiasc - shellfish but it was washed down with a cheeky little Muscadet and, even though the freastalaí - waitress laughed at his rusty French, it was worth taking the risk as he didn’t end up ag caitheamh amach - throwing up on the Place Royale.
However, if the Bluffer were ever invited onto I’m a Gaeilgeoir, Get Me Out of Here, he’s not sure he would be up for snacking on magairlí ainmhithe - animals’ testicles or feithidí beo - live insects.
Ar mhaith leat triail a bhaint as ... means would you like to try, as in would you like to try these sheep's eyes?
However, the Bluffer has discovered that throwing caution to the wind when you are in what looks like a good restaurant in a foreign country but you can’t understand the menu, just to ask for something, anything.
The Bluffer has done that on numerous occasions and has enjoyed many’s a stobhach blasta - a tasty Spanish stew or a flavoursome French flamiche – just by taking a leap into the unknown.
Gazpacho, however, was an exception. Ugh!
But life is full of risks and we encounter them daily, from crossing the road to buying a car or asking the guy/girl from the Irish class out on a date.
Of course, there are dangers.
Baol is another word for a risk/a danger as in tá baol ann .. there is a danger that...
Danger comes at different levels of course from tá baol ann nach dtaitnóidh sé leat - there is the chance you won’t like it to tá baol ann go bhfaighidh tú bás - there is a danger you will die when you are chatting to your surgeon about your upcoming heart surgery.
Most of us deal with quite successfully with risk but are we a little bit too risk-averse to live saol níos iomláine - a fuller life?
So gabh chuig an bailé - go to the ballet, book tickets for that Iranian crime drama, go skinny dipping in Lough Neagh.
“Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down,” said the American writer Ray Bradbury, a quote that must have inspired England’s Brexiteers. Oops!
But there are calculated risks. Personally, I’d give the Lough Neagh experience above a miss but as long as you know what you’re doing and you have dismissed all the possible risks involved, then, as the saying goes, feel the fear and do it anyway!
CÚPLA FOCAL
níor cailleadh riamh leath dá ndeachaigh i gcontúirt (neer kylyoo reeoo lah da nyahee i gontoortch) - never venture, never win
chuaigh mé sa seans(khooee may sa shans) - I took a risk
d’ith mé oisrí an tseachtain seo(jeeh may ishree un chakhtan shaw) - I ate oysters this week
sliogiasc(shligeeask) - shellfish
freastalaí(frastalee) - waitress
ag caitheamh amach(eg kyhoo amakh) - throwing up
magairlí ainmhithe (magarlyee anyavee) - animals’ testicles feithidí beo (fayhidgee byaw) - live insects.
Ar mhaith leat triail a bhaint as ...(er why lat chreeal a wintch as) - would you like to try ...
stobhach blasta(stowakh blasta) - a tasty stew
baol(bwale) - a risk/a danger
tá baol ann(taa bwale un) - there is a danger that
tá baol ann nach dtaitnóidh sé leat(taa bwale un nakh datnoee shay lat) - there is the chance you won’t like it
tá baol ann go bhfaighidh tú bás (taa bwale unn gaw wee too baas) - there is a danger you will die
saol níos iomláine(sale neess umlaanya) - a fuller life
gabh chuig an bailé(goe hig un balay) - go to the ballet