heibrí cén chaoi

galaxyrocker · **Posted:** Tue 20 Aug 2019 12:57 am

So I was chatting with a buddy of mine about this passage from Seanchas Jimmí Chearra Chois Fharraige

Quote:

Rinne mé iarracht ó hiarraidh orm é, ach th'réis chuile shórt a bheith thart bhí mé ag caint leis an Athair Seán Ó Donnchú agus chuir muid go leor rudaí trína chéile ach an chéad rud eile héibrí cén chaoi a raibh mé ag éisteacht le Raidió na Gaeltachta cé bheadh ag caint ach an tAthair Ó Donnchú agus é ag cur síos ar an deireadh seachtaine i mBaile Uí Mhiacháin agus na cúpla scéal a dinis mé agus dúirt sé an lá sin gur cheart dhom mo chuid scéalta a chur i dteannta a chéile.

In particular, I didn't understand the "heibrí cén chaoi a raibh mé..." part. He said it translated as Hiberno-English "And whatever way I was listening to the radio " or "the next thing, I just happened to be listening to RnaG". I asked for more samples, since he said it was still productive in the area (both in English and Irish), and got "Agus héibrí caoi gur chuir mé mo chos síos, d'imigh mo rúitín fúm" ("Whatever way I put my foot down, my ankle went under me"), and I'm still confused. Could anyone possibly elaborate on how to use the construction, or what exactly the "whatever way" means in Hiberno-English? I tried my hand at constructing some sentences with it myself, but they didn't quite work, so just looking for some advice. Thanks!

tiomluasocein · **Joined:** Thu 01 Sep 2011 11:36 pm **Posts:** 373

I've never heard that phrase but it seems it could be a set phrase that could be plugged in to any similar grammatical situation to mean "just happened to . . ." or "It just so happened that . . ."

Like maybe,

"heibrí cén chaoi a chasadh liom sa tsráid é" > I just so happened to meet him on the street, It just so happened that I met him on the street.

I think someone else may know for sure though.

oisin · **Joined:** Tue 26 Feb 2019 2:15 pm **Posts:** 48

I don't know about the Irish, but sentences using whatever way like that are extremely common here and I never knew that it was an Irish/Hiberno thing.

I'll attempt an explanation.

'Whatever way' - the way in which you did something at that time that caused something else to happen.

Examples
"Whatever way I put the glass down, didn't it break and spill all over the table."

"I was going in for the tackle, and whatever way I hit him didn't I put my own shoulder out."

"The dog caught the ball, and whatever way he caught it, it was stuck hard on his tooth and he couldn't get it off."

"She was reciting a poem, and whatever way she said the words it made me feel..."

Bríd Mhór · **Joined:** Sun 28 Aug 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 2813

galaxyrocker wrote:

So I was chatting with a buddy of mine about this passage from Seanchas Jimmí Chearra Chois Fharraige

Quote:

Rinne mé iarracht ó hiarraidh orm é, ach th'réis chuile shórt a bheith thart bhí mé ag caint leis an Athair Seán Ó Donnchú agus chuir muid go leor rudaí trína chéile ach an chéad rud eile héibrí cén chaoi a raibh mé ag éisteacht le Raidió na Gaeltachta cé bheadh ag caint ach an tAthair Ó Donnchú agus é ag cur síos ar an deireadh seachtaine i mBaile Uí Mhiacháin agus na cúpla scéal a dinis mé agus dúirt sé an lá sin gur cheart dhom mo chuid scéalta a chur i dteannta a chéile.

In particular, I didn't understand the "heibrí cén chaoi a raibh mé..." part. He said it translated as Hiberno-English "And whatever way I was listening to the radio " or "the next thing, I just happened to be listening to RnaG". I asked for more samples, since he said it was still productive in the area (both in English and Irish), and got "Agus héibrí caoi gur chuir mé mo chos síos, d'imigh mo rúitín fúm" ("Whatever way I put my foot down, my ankle went under me"), and I'm still confused. Could anyone possibly elaborate on how to use the construction, or what exactly the "whatever way" means in Hiberno-English? I tried my hand at constructing some sentences with it myself, but they didn't quite work, so just looking for some advice. Thanks!

Yes, "whatever way" is probably the best translation.
Meaning "I don't know how, but this is how it happened". That's not the standard spelling. In the Caighdeánach I think they say: Abí Abé - something like that.

(Edited: in the dictionary it says: Cibé)

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