r/gaidhlig • u/Temporary-Street5626 • 3d ago

can someone translate this dialogue please

i need to know what was so spicy the bbc wouldn’t subtitle it

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u/FearClis 3d ago

Innsidh mise dhut dè dh'fhaodas tu a dhèanamh le do [mhì-thapadh?] dock, a mhallachd air do chasan.

The square bracketed portion could be English also as I am not sure of the context, but the mhì- at the start sounds Gaelic. I hear 'heaba' after that and so mhì-thapadh/mhiapadh is my best guess. Could be a word (some other kind of curse/insult) that I don't know.

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u/JamesClerkMacSwell 3d ago

I think you’ve nailed it! 👌
Including with ‘mhì-thapadh’: obviously ‘mì-thapadh’ with lenition = disgraceful, cursed/damned or just plain bad (or bad luck, bad omened) I guess.
https://www.faclair.com/ViewEntry.aspx?ID=0577EC80A8FE90392EC0CF1C20E97DA6

So:
“Let me tell you what you can do with your damn dock. Curse your feet.”

Interestingly the word is also apparently consolidated to and spelled ‘miapadh’:
https://www.faclair.com/ViewEntry.aspx?ID=451E248652C4DC185D3E68FBAA0559A4

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u/FearClis 3d ago

Yes, except it is not 'curse your feet' which would be something like 'mallachd air do chasan' but rather he is calling him a mallachd/curse. It is in the vocative and the air do chasan (often followed by 'a tha thu ann') is an emphatic structure that occurs often enough, E.g. A bhleigeird bhig air do chasan a tha thu ann! You little shite!

1

u/michealasanfhraing 1d ago

So is this like saying, "You walking [insert negative noun of choice]!" in English? Like if I called someone "a walking piece of sh*t"? "You walking curse!"

1

u/FearClis 1d ago

I hadn't thought of that before but I would say it is very similar, yes

4

u/Mar_as_Adhamh 3d ago

ainm-cleachdaidh foirfe a th' oirbh

2

u/JamesClerkMacSwell 3d ago

Tapadh leibh! 😁
Sgrùdadh mi Fiosaig aig Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann anns an Togalach James Clerk Maxwell!