ChefJeff59 wrote:
I’d like some help on a translation, but a little backstory first. My adult son and I (he’s 33, I’m 58) are both going thru divorces at the same time. It’s been a very trying year for both of us, but we’ve learned to lean on each other, and are in fact sharing housing now.
We both became very interested in and gained a greater appreciation of our mixed Scottish and Irish heritage about ten years ago. We’re Conn and Clan Donald on the Scottish side, and O’Shields and Sullivan on the Irish.
For some time we’ve shared a love of the languages, and both have an interest in gaining at least some level of proficiency before we visit in a few years time. In the meantime, we’re limited to “Slainte” when we’re sharing a glass of uisge or wine.
That’s where the request comes in. A few months ago, at a particularly rough time in our relational lives, we were camping and sharing a bottle over a campfire. We raised our glasses to toast the moment, and couldn’t think of anything to toast to. One of us – still can’t remember clearly which – finally came up with something (and I’ll apologize for the language here, but it was appropriate for the moment) – “To what the f#*@ ever!”
For some reason it resonated with us, and it’s become our standard toast.
So, the question is this…Can someone translate that into the Irish for us?
The issue with your request is your choice of profanity. The concept of "curse words" doesn't quite exist, at least, in the same way in Irish as it does in English. Also, you've chosen the one word with the most varied use in English. While Irish equivalents exist for translations relating to excrement, or genitalia, there is no translation for "fuck".
Generally, for example's sake, if you want to offend someone in Irish you might wish grievous bodily harm on them, or say something unpleasant about their appearance. In English, by contrast, we have a vocabulary of conventionally insulting words which, when invoked, are simply understood to be insulting. Your use of "the fuck" in this context, however, isn't apparently to be offensive at all. It's intended to express exasperation, as far as I can tell.
With that being the case, I'd suggest a looser Irish translation, as a direct translation is impossible at any rate. Perhaps something like:
Aon rud ar chor ar bith!lit.
[to] Anything at all!