[New post] Maybe Swearing in Scottish Will Help

Ihearthula posted: " Photo by Pascal van de Vendel on Unsplash aka Seven spoken curses from the Scottish Highlands Some people say that swearing is a sign of low intelligence and a lack of creativity, but those people can f*ck right off. That said, if we compare" Am I Reading Too Much into This? Maybe Swearing in Scottish Will Help Ihearthula Sep 30 Photo by Pascal van de Vendel on Unsplash aka Seven spoken curses from the Scottish Highlands Some people say that swearing is a sign of low intelligence and a lack of creativity, but those people can f*ck right off. That said, if we compare the filth we spout today to the curse words of yesteryear we will see not only a lack of f-words (though they did exist) but a lot more emphasis on the CURSE part. Hundreds of years ago in the Gaelic speaking Highlands and Islands of Scotland, imprecations (or spoken hexes) were commonly used. And while, when spoken in English, they don't exactly roll off the tongue, they are just as colourful and as savage as the f-bombs we drop today. And so, because there are times when you really need to swear but could be fired, punched or excommunicated for doing so, here are seven gloriously G-rated curse words you can use at weddings, funerals and children's birthday parties: 1. "Nach faicear toradh ad ìm, no ìm ann ad bhainne." Photo by Elizabeth Dunne on Unsplash Apparently popular with old women in the Highlands, this is a handy alternative to: "Eat sh*t!" 2. "Bùrn du ort!" Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash When you know that black water is waste water from the toilet, this one becomes a handy alternative to calling someone a "piece of sh*t". 3. "Tigh do sheamar dhuit!" Photo by Craig Thomas on Unsplash Life in olden times was, to paraphrase Thomas Hobbes 'nasty, brutish and short' and so I suspect this particular hex was used to tell someone to "f*ck off and die". 4. "Bàs gun sagart ort!" Photo by Ahmed Adly on Unsplash In a deeply religious and superstitious part of the world, this curse basically condemns someone to "go to Hell!" 5. "Gu ma h-anamoch dhuit!" Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash Not late as in for a train, nor late as in pregnant, more late as in dead. This imprecation is another way to tell someone to F-off and die. Y'know, in case you needed one. 6. "Sian do ghonaidh ort!" Photo by Octavian Dan on Unsplash This curse is telling someone to take their sword, scythe or sabre, and use it on themselves. However, should you find yourself cursed by another before you have a chance to deliver your own verbal death-stroke, you can respond with - 7. "Toradh do ghuidhe far" picture: istock Which is basically the "I'm rubber your glue, your words bounce off me and sticks to you" of the medieval Scottish Highlands. Unfortunately, despite tireless research, I haven't found the Scottish-Gaelic version of "That's my name, don't wear it out." But I'll keep looking. Photo by Janko Ferlic on Pexels.com RESOURCES: all imprecations were taken from: Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell, 1900 Which you can access for free thanks to the very excellent Project Gutenburg. Comment Like You can also reply to this email to leave a comment. Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Am I Reading Too Much into This?. Change your email settings at manage subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://ihearthula.com/2022/09/30/maybe-swearing-in-scottish-will-help/ Powered by WordPress.com