English has Irish galore

It's Irish Heritage Month, and their cultural contributions reach beyond shamrocks, leprechauns, and Guinness. Old Irish weaved its way into American English, while steadfastly holding on to the various English dialects of Ireland, collectively called "Hiberno English" (Hibernia is Latin for Ireland). Here's a sample:

Banshee: From "bainsidhe/beansidhe" - literally, female fairy. In Irish mythology a banshee was an omen of death.

Bog: "Bogach" - marsh/peatland

Boycott: An Irish ostracism of infamous (English) Captain Charles Boycott, who refused to lower tenant farmers' rents. The term quickly spread as far as Japan (boikotto).

Brogue(s): "Brog" (1) a type of shoe, or (2) regional accent, originally referring to the speaker's footwear

Clock: "Clocc" - handbell used by missionaries (also Old High German "glocka")

Colleen: "Cailin" - young woman

Fenian: "Fianna" - warrior band, also a Nineteenth Century Irish nationalist group

Galore: "Go leor" - "til plenty," a lot

Gob: Beak or mouth; colloquially, a beaky nose

Hooligan: A family name, "O' huallachain," anglicized as O'Houlihan (they must have been a rowdy bunch)

Kibosh: "kybosh" - put an end to ("that's put the kibosh on it"). Origin may be Yiddish, or from the Irish "an chaip bhais" ("the cap of death" - a black cap worn by a judge passing sentence of capital punishment; or "pitchapping" - the British torture of Irish rebels by pouring hot pitch on the captive's head, then once dry, tearing off the "cap"...)

Phoney: "Fainne" - literally, ring. A gilt brass ring worn by swindlers; became "fawney" in English. Also, "fainne" today refers to a pin worn to signify commitment to speaking the Irish language.

Slew: "Sluagh" - a large number

Slob: "Slab" - mud

Slogan: "Sluagh-ghairm" - a Gaelic battle cry

Smithereens: "Smidrin" - small fragments, atoms

And maybe you guessed this one: Whiskey - "uisce beatha," the water of life.

Erin go bragh! Ireland forever.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].