Terry Dolan
13 results

Brat’s tale: Frank McNally on the curious evolution of the Irish word for ‘flag’
- Opinion
- July 29, 2020, 20:00
In Irish, as you probably know, “brat” means “flag”. In English, it means “an unruly child”. The two concepts would not appear to have much in common,(...)

Begob and Begorrah – Frank McNally on a red-letter week for Hiberno-English swear words
- Opinion
- June 26, 2020, 18:35
This week’s exciting news from the US – that the word “gobshite” had made its debut appearance in the New York Times – sent me delving into this newsp(...)

Haitch-Block Breakout – Frank McNally on the relentless rise of the Irish ‘H’
- Opinion
- February 21, 2020, 18:30
As revealed on her Twitter account, the British Labour MP Jess Phillips received a ticking off this week for something she said in a BBC interview. (...)

A Ryan Tubridy interview takes a terrifying twist
- TV, Radio, Web
- January 25, 2020, 06:00
As he surveys the papers at the start of his show, Ryan Tubridy has some good news for those already suffering from election fatigue. “Obviously it’s (...)

Not Well Got – Frank McNally on the evolution of a Hiberno-Scottish insult
- Opinion
- January 24, 2020, 18:15
Long-time reader Damien Maguire has emailed with a raised eyebrow about my suggestion that the Hiberno-English “get” – as used by a political opponent(...)

Haet Speech – Frank McNally on Hiberno-English
- Opinion
- August 9, 2019, 18:31
A friend inquired recently if I was familiar with the Hiberno-English phrase “damn the hate” and, if so, where it originated. Yes and no were the answ(...)

Hung, Thrawn, and Quartered – Frank NcNally on Westminster’s Brexit crisis, as seen through Ulster-Scots
- Opinion
- January 18, 2019, 18:40
Watching BBC’s Newsnight programme on Thursday, I was intrigued to hear presenter Kirsty Wark use the word “thrawn” in a question to an interviewee. I(...)

Hoor You To Talk? – An Irishman’s Diary about unparliamentary language
- Opinion
- May 25, 2018, 00:01
The recent national outbreak of people saying “bollocks”, in the Leinster House canteen and elsewhere, has prompted some readers to recall another fam(...)

Lost in translation – An Irishman’s Diary on the hidden depths of Hiberno-English
- Opinion
- February 8, 2018, 00:01
After a recent column here about the dubious honour of being addressed as “sir” (or even “sore”) in Dublin, several readers reminded me of a passage i(...)

Collops and fíbíns: The lost language of Ireland’s landscape
- Heritage
- July 29, 2017, 07:00
Do you understand the sentence: the banbh was hiding out in the clochán from the brothall? Or how about: I took the boreen over the bawn and down the (...)