19 thoughts on “Tá For That

  1. Disgraced Former Minister Frilly Mickie Keane

    Ta for pushing this BS.

    If I get a chance later on I’ll figure out if they can be got

    And where

    Tiocfidh
    Bi’ys n’ girls n’ trans n’ what ever yere having yerselves
    Tiocfidh

    1. ivan

      Yup – nice badges, fair play etc but Tá ain’t the Irish for ‘yes’. If I recall correctly, it doesn’t mean anything standing on it’s own unless the question ‘an bhfuil’ has been asked, and you want to give an affirmative answer…

      But there you go – there’s our crazy language for you. Pedantic aside finished with…

      1. IDB

        It is, annoyingly, always used as the affirmative response in referendums.
        Don’t get me started on posters that say “Vótáil Tá”. Roughly translates as “voting. Is”.

      2. ReproBertie

        The question on the ballot paper will be “An bhfuil tú ag toiliú leis an togra chun an Bunreacht a leasú atá sa bhille thíosluaithe?” *

        Since the question is “An bhfuil tú” the possible answers are “Tá” to mean “I am” or “Níl” to mean “I am not” so if you are in favour of the referendum than you vote Tá.

        *Are you in support of the proposal to amend the Constitution containted in the undermentioned bill?

        1. Aubry

          Equality trumps linguistic pedantry in my book anyway (and I say this as somebody who actively winces every time she sees a ‘five items or less’ sign), but out of interest is “Tá” on its own grammatically correct, or should it be “Tá mé”?

          1. ReproBertie

            Tá on its own is fine. It only seems strange if you try to translate it directly into English.

            Tá is the present affirmitive of the verb bí so tá on its own it is a perfeclty acceptable answer to any question that starts with “An Bhfuil” or “Nach Bhfuil”.

            An bhfuil tú ag teacht?
            Tá.
            This makes perfect sense in Irish but a direct translation to English would be
            Be you coming?
            Be.
            Instead this is translated as
            Are you coming?
            I am.

            The I am translation leads people to think that there needs to be an object in the answer thus tá mé but this is not the case.

          2. Aubry

            Thanks, Bertie. That’s really helpful.

            I wasn’t sure, because in the present tense the verb comes with the subject built in, so I wondered if the verb wasn’t technically complete without it.

            Been a long, long time since Leaving Cert Irish :(

            I learned things today, and now I really, really, really want one of those badges.

    2. Mayor Quimby

      don’t be silly – Broadsheet loves the language – or at least the idea f the language. Which is more important than the actual language.

  2. Spaghetti Hoop

    Ooh I’d like one. All the plastic crap that’s mass-produced and shipped around the oceans and we can’t get our hands on an equality badge!

  3. rotide

    This referendum is doing wonders for the Irish Language’s profile on broadsheet at least.

    This might be the first time an Irish languangue post hasn’t descended into the horrors regarding its place in society.

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