Gang aft agley

It was pointed out to me yesterday that our Irish friends would not commonly know the word “doofus“. (It doesn’t even appear in the 1989 edition of the OED. Catch up, Britain!) The Americans, of course, will not be familiar with “cainteoir“. Ergo, at least half of this blog’s name is lost on almost everyone. “The best-laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley.”

I think there’s an old show biz admonition not to fall in love with your own material. I obviously don’t hang around enough old show biz.

Non-Irish speakers,  “cainteoir” is a person who is a speaker. “Cainteoir dúchais” means someone who speaks Irish from birth, a native speaker. “Dúchais” sounds kinda like “doofus” if you have fallen in love with your own material.

Non-American English speakers, “doofus” is a slow-witted, thick, or foolish person. “Doofus” sounds kinda like “dúchais” if you have fallen in love with your own material.

This entry was posted in In English. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.