Special Irish sayings and blessings this Christmas season

Check out Tyrone comedian, Kevin MacAleer, the man who put dead back into deadpan, for delicious cultural self-deprecatory humour. An old Irish greeting: "I'm not a bitter man, but may you drop dead in a snowdrift." "May ya be in heaven half an hour before the divil knows yer dead!"

You suggested I check it out so I did and guess what!? You were wrong! I live my culture and heritage every day as I work for Bord Failte AND live in Ireland! I dont have to read about it or hear fairy tales from my dead link to Ireland like yourself. There are kids born here to Polish and Nigerians every day and they're more Irish than you will ever be or hope to be! You talk about heritage, it was also very much part of Irish culture therefore, heritage to send pregnant unmarried women to the laundries. Should I be proud of this also or is it just certain types of Paddy Whackery that I should fondly hold onto? Theres no 'h' in ''Nollaig'' by the way and theres also no such word as 'Jackette''. You really are a fool!

Shame, Ciara, that you had to go to all the trouble researching all that. None of that really matters anyway, what matters, as everyone who sees this will agree, is that a cheeky punk got on this forum and referred to our wonderful heritage and old sayings as "rubbish" and "crap". Your lack of knowledge about our old ways is one thing, but to treat them with such disrespect and crassness only speaks to your ignorance. While you are doing your research, you should check out all those "crap" old sayings and you will find every one of them. Most have been translated from Gaelic. Of course, since you're a "Dub" or a "Jackette", you probably haven't heard of that either. "Go raibh gach solas an Nollaigh seo ort"

Garner’s Modern American Usage (2003) RAISE and REAR: The old rule, still sometimes observed, is that crops and livestock are ‘raised’ and children are ‘reared.’ But today the phrase ‘born and raised’ is about eight times as common in print as ‘born and reared.’ And ‘raise’ in now standard as a synonym for rear. Indeed, ‘born and reared’ is likely to sound affected in American English. Quote: <1986 “We parents so often blow the business of RAISING kids, but not because we violate any philosophy of child ‘raising.’”—‘Fatherhood’ by Bill Cosby, page 20> <1997 “He earlier had worked in the candy-making business in Pittsburg, where he was born and RAISED.”—‘Washington Post,’ 8 August, page B4> <2000 “My mother RAISED me to be polite.”—‘The Grammar Lady,’ Mary Newton Brudner, page 57> The old rule Walter. Americans say ''reared'' for people. The rest of the world says ''raised''

Are you that upset Walter that an actual real irish person doesnt fit your model of a cultural stereotype with all your twee sayings that Irish people under the age of 70 have never heard?? Maybe you and your lovely German name should sign up to German central.com? Oxford English Dictionary RAISE: 10) a. To foster, rear, bring up (a person). Now chiefly U.S., and commonly in passages with specification of place. b. To rear or bring up (animals). c. To cause or promote the growth of (plants), to grow (fruit, vegetables, flowers, etc.). REAR: 9) a. To bring (animals) to maturity or to a certain stage of growth by giving proper nourishment and attention; especially. to attend to the breeding and growth of (cattle, etc.) as an occupation. = raise. b. To bring up (a person), to foster, nourish, educate.= raise. c. To attend to, promote, or cause the growth of (plants); to grow (grain, etc.). = raise.

Sounds like you got your education on a farm alright. Children are "reared", animals are "raised". Check it out! You say you were "raised" in Dublin, so maybe you're right and that would be appropriate for you.

Is the moderator of this page deleting my posts? Walter, the heritage that I am proud of has nothing whatsoever got to do with twee sayings from the era of Peig Sayers. By the way, you ''rear'' cattle, not families or children, They are ''raised''. My uncle who is a dairy farmer taught me that when I was 6.

A farmer living near me used to say of his wife--"She's one tit short of an udder". :-)

It's reared, by the way, not "raised", as animals are.

The fact that you refer to your heritage as "crap" explains everything.

Yep, born in Dublin and raised by a Dad from Monaghan and a mam from Louth, family in Cork, Tipp and Galway and Ive never heard this crap before. None of the family have either but Im sure they may have had they been alive 200 years ago.

Your "wan" born and "raised" in Dublin never heard any of these!!! Wow, Surprise, surprise!!!

Im 35, born and raised in Dublin and i have NEVER heard any of these sayings. what a load of rubbish! Stereotype much?

I love the Santa picture. Would like to have a big one.

FRANK MC COURT would disagree with this one. . . "A poor man's tale is rarely heard." Time to get rid of that one along with some of those stereotype sayings AND the santa picture.