Caib. 2, leathanach 15

nia, m, nephew

matal, m, mantel

hata bobailíní, tasseled hat

áilleagán intreach, merry-go-round, carousel

chlis, jumped, started (from sleep, etc.)

Bí i do shuí!, can mean ‘Wake up/Get up!’ as well as ‘Sit (down)!’

16

seachain, ‘be careful not to …’ (usually means ‘avoid’)

cnead, f, gasp, groan

scallta, callow, featherless; also ‘poached’ (re: eggs)

colm, m, scar (not to be mistaken with ‘colm’, a dove, which is the word that gives us the name ‘Colmán’ (little dove)

17

timpiste bhóthair, f, road accident (bóthar has become ‘bhóthair’ because it describes ‘timpiste,’ which is a feminine noun)

ag clabadh, swallowing greedily

18

muirnín, darling, or as Rowling would have it, ‘sweetums’

sclogaíl gháire a dhéanamh, to chuckle

go grod, abruptly

19

domlas, bile, gall, gall-bladder

Thosaigh an gol ag Dudley, Dudley started crying. Interesting how so many phrases are, well, phrased different, which is both intriguing and sometimes confusing for learners. This means literally ‘The crying started at Dudley.’

a chroí istigh, O inner heart (a term of endearment), following on the heels of the affectionate ‘A Duddy beag’ (‘beag’ not ‘bhig’, presumably because ‘Duddy’ is a sort of epethet, not the real name). The whole combo translates Rowling’s ‘Dinky Duddydums.’ Some things Béarla does just don’t have equivalents in Irish (and vice versa, of course)!

20

ealaín, f, here ‘trick,’ usually means ‘art’

ceap magaidh, m, laughing stock

seangheansaí, m, old jersey/jumper/gansey/US: sweater

21

ag casaoid, complaining, grumbling

ag imeacht sna firmimintí, going at great speed (lit. in the firmaments)

22

an ghlóir Uachtar Ard, f, the Knickerbocker Glory (a type of ice cream sundae); curiously, while Uachtar Ard is an actual place name (aka Oughterard, Co. Galway), it literally means ‘high elevated place’ or quite literally, ‘high cream’ (pre-homogenization), and has nothing to do with ‘knickerbockers,’ which in Irish are ‘bríste glúine.’

cniogóg, light blow (cf. cnag)

23

nathair, f, a snake (cf. Latin: natrix)

Cá has tú? , a variation of ‘Cá as tú? or ‘Cé as thú?’ or ‘Cá as duit?’

ghrinnigh, observed, scrutinized

bua-chrapaire, m, boa-constrictor

24

Cár imigh X?, Where did X go? Note how ‘Cá’ can pick up an ‘-r’ ending in the past tense.

plobaireacht, blubbering

craos, m, gullet, maw, and more abstractly, gluttony

25

aisteach, strange (remember — we already had ‘ait’ and ‘aduain’ for strange; there’s also ‘saoithiúil’ and ‘coimhthíoch’ and ‘éagoitianta.