Last night I went to see the NoFitState circus, who are currently in Bangor. So I thought I’d look at the origins of a few circus related words.
circus comes from the Latin word circus (ring, circle) and was used by the Romans to for circular arenas and oval race courses (e.g. the Circus Maximus). The Latin word circus comes from the Greek word κίρκος (kirkos), “circle, ring”, from the Proto-Indo-European word *kirk-, from root *(s)ker- (to turn, bend)
trapeze comes from the French word trapèze, which comes from the Late Latin trapezium, from the Greek τραπέζιον (trapezion), “irregular quadrilateral”, a diminutive of τράπεζα (trapeza), “table”, from τρά- (tra-), “four”, and πέζα (peza), “foot, edge”.
juggle comes from juggler, which comes from the Old French word jangler/jogler, from the Latin iocor (“I jest, I make a joke”).
clown – of unknown origin (there weren’t any last night as it isn’t that kind of circus).
Bhí an sorcas go hiontach aréir. Bhí slua mór ann agus bhog muid timpeall an ollphuball chun na gníomhartha éagsúla a fheiceáil. Bhí gníomhartha le maide luascáin, le cordes lisse (rópaí réidh) agus le trampailín, agus rinne ceann de na haisteoirí lámhchleasaíocht le liathróidí preabadh. Mar go ndéanaimse lámhchleasaiocht le blianta fada, bhí ciall agam dó a chuid scileanna. Bhí ceol beo ann an t-am ar fad chomh maith. Ag deireadh an seó, thit sneachta saorga ó dhíon agus cailín ar mhaide luascáin ag casadh tríd.
The circus was great last night. There were many people there and we moved about in the big top to see the different acts. There were acts involving trapezes, cordes lisse and trampolines, and of the performers did some floor juggling. As I’ve been juggling for many year I could appreciate his skill. There was also live music the whole time. At the end of the show artificial snow fell from the roof while a lass on a trapeze span through it.
Maidin inniu tháinig daoine chun an scafall a thógáil anuas as an díon. Ba cheart dóibh ag teacht an tseachtain seo caite, ach bhí siad ro-ghnóthach. D’íoc mé an íocaíocht deireanach as na painéil gréine, agus a sheol mé na doiciméid go léir chun an chóras a chlárú. I ndiaidh cúpla mí beidh mé an chéad íocaíocht don leictreachas a fháil. Anocht tá mé ag dul chun an sorcas nofitstate, agus tá mé ag súil go mór leis.
This morning the guys came to take down the scaffolding from the roof. They should have come last week, but were too busy. I paid the final payment for the solar panels, and sent all the documents off to register the system. In a couple of months I’ll receive the first payment for the electricity. Tonight I’m going to the nofitstate circus, and am looking forward to it.
Chinn mé ar mo chláirseach a sheoladh ar ais inniu. Ní chláirseach ro mhaith atá ann agus bionn sí as tiúin go minic, agus i ndáiríre ní go leor ama agam uirlis nua a fhoghlaim ar faoi láthair. B’fhéidir beidh mé ag tríail an chláirseach a fhoghlaim sa todhchaí, ach i láthair na huire beidh mé ag dhíriú m’intinn ar na huirlisí atá agam cheana féin.
I decided to send my harp back today. It’s not a very good harp and is always going out of tune, I don’t really have enough time to learn a new instrument at the moment. Maybe I’ll try to learn the harp in the future, but for now I’ll concentrate on the instruments I already have.
One day last week I was walking through town and saw a couple walking nearby – a Chinese woman with a Western man. I wondered what language they were speaking to each other, so I eavesdropped and heard that it was Mandarin. This surprised me as it’s rare, in my experience, to hear non-Chinese people speaking Mandarin, especially round here. I was considering going over to introduce myself and finding out how the guy had learned Mandarin, but by that time they’d gone off in different direction.
If you speak a lesser-studied language and hear someone speaking it in public, would you go and talk to them?
Ní tharla mórán rudaí inniu. Bhí lá scamallach ann agus bhí sé níos fuaire na laethanta eile le déanaí. D’obair mé ar maidin, agus sa tráthnóna d’foghlaim mé níos mó Briotáinis agus Rúisis, agus sheinn mé ar uirlisí ceoil éagsúla. Níos déanaí rinne mé comhrá ar an bhfón le cara atá ina cónaí i Shealtainn. Is breá liom a bheith ag caint léi mar is duine chomh dearfach í agus bionn ár comhrá lán le gaire.
Not a lot happened today. It was cloudy and cooler than other days recently. I worked in the morning, and in the afternoon I learnt some more Breton and Russian, and played various musical instruments. Later I had a chat on the phone with a friend who lives in Shetland. I really enjoy chatting to her as she’s such a positive person and our conversations are always filled with laughter.
Seo amrhán nua a scríobh mé le déanaí. Meascán de focail a rinne mé suas, agus focail ó chanúint Shealtainn atá ann. Níl ach píosa spraoi ata ann. Rinne mé iarracht a bheith ag canadh le blas Albanaigh, ach ní féídir liom a bheith ag canadh le blas Shealtainn go fóill, ar an drochuair. Sa taifeadadh seo tá mé tionlacan mé féin ar an ukulele. B’fhéidir cuirfidh mé uirlisí eile leis chomh maith.
Here’s a song I wrote recently that consists of a mixture of made-up words and words from Shetland dialect. It’s just a bit of fun. I tried to sing in a Scottish accent, but can’t yet sing in a Shetland accent, unfortunately. On this recording I accompany myself on the ukulele. I may add other instruments to the recording as well.
Plinkin Plookplooks
When the plookplooks are a plinkin upon their peerie goos
And the baagies are a birlin in their muckle shoes
Beware the mirdin owld masgooms and the oolin mooratoogs
For they will snorf your scobbins, and then slunk doon in the snoob
So put on your zamblated zoot hat and your flartled overflude
And then you’ll feel richt flimpsome and ready for a plood
If the nories are a nigglin, just smeeg and steek your lugs
And then you can outlapple all their wenglit wugs.
If your peerie tings are tussin, don’t twartle like a trow
Just twig and snorf some tabnab, then a twasperin you’ll go
When it’s time for tammie-noddie, they’ll troke and tresh aboot
But just let them trointle truely, and then they’ll tarpool oot.
Cad é a chiallaíonn na focail? What do the words mean?
– plook = goirín – pimple
– plink = seinn ar uirlis téád – to play a string instrument
– peeire = beag – small
– goo = saghas lir boghach le dhá téad – a type of bowed lyre with two strings (usually written gue, gu or gju)
– baagie = droimneach mór – great black-backed gull (Larus marinus)
– birl = bheith ag guairneáil go tapaigh – to whirl rapidly
– muckle = mór – big
– mirdin = bheith lom lán (le) – teeming
– owld = sean – old
– masgoom = bráthair – monkfish
– ool = bheith i ndroim dubhach – to mope
– mooratoog = seangán – ant
– scobbins = brachán nó gránach greamaithe den scilléad – porridge/cereal stuck to the pan, scrappings from the pan
– norie = puifín – puffin
– nigg = tabhair amach do – to nag
– smeeg = seitgháire a dhéanamh – to smirk
– steek = druid = to shut
– lug = cluas – ear
– wenglit = ard – tall
– peerie tings = páistí – children
– tuss = bladair; bheith ag monahbar – to cajole; to murmur
– twartle = béaghnaigh – to contradict
– trow = troll
– twig = tuig – to understand
– tabnab = sneaic milis – sweet snack
– twasper = dul ar cosa in airde – to gallop
– tammie-noddie = codladh – sleep
– troke = margáil a dhéanamh – to bargain
– tresh = iomlaisc – to thrash
– trointle = bheith ag monabhar; ceasnaigh – to mutter; to grumble
Here’s a recording of a verse from a song I’m currently writing. It contains a mixture of genuine words from Shetland dialect and words I made-up, plus a few that are based on Shetland words.
Here are the words:
When the plookplooks are a plinkin upon their peerie goos
And the baagies are a birlin in their muckle shoes
Beware the mirdin owld masgooms and the oolin mooratoogs
For they will snorf your scobbins, and then slunk doon in the snoob.
Can you work out which of the words are made-up and which are genuine, and what do you think they might mean?
I tried to sing in a Scottish accent, though I’m not sure if it’s from any particular part of Scotland. If I could sing in a Shetland accent I would. By using a mixture of Shetland words and made-up ones I’m not implying that the Shetland ones are in any way equivalent to the made-up ones.
Bhain mé an-sult an cór craiceáilte aréir, mar is gnách. Is é an cór craiceáilte grupa beag daoine a bhionn ag canadh le chéile cúpla uair gach mí. Bionn muid ag déanamh suas amhráin nua, agus ag cuir comhcheoil ar amhráin atá ar eolas againn. Cheannaigh mé cláirseach agus melodica ar líne inné, agus tháinig siad inniu. Bhí mé ag smaoineamh faoi cláirseach a cheanach le tamall anuas, agus inné chonaic mé ceann beag ar reic speisialta agus ní fhéadfadh cuir suas di, agus bhí an melodica chomh saor agus chomh gleoite.
I really enjoyed the crazy choir last night, as usual. The crazy choir is a small group of people who sing together a couple of times a month. We make up new songs and improvise harmonies for songs we know. I bought a harp and a melodica online yesterday, and they arrived today. I was thinking about getting a harp for a while, and yesterday I saw a small one on special offer and couldn’t resist, and the melodica was very cheap and cute.
