Hello there!

My first time here so please excuse me if I get anything wrong

I'm looking for the correct translation of the phrase "Oh you pretty thing" into Irish. For context it's as in the David Bowie song, and "pretty thing" is referring to my fiancée, so the whole phrase is me speaking to them describing them as a "pretty thing".

I'm not sure which dialect - I'm a Molloy by ancestry so I believe that means County Offaly, Leinster? If there isn't one specific to there then I'd be interested in the standard and old spellings, so if it's possible to provide both I'd be over the moon.

Also, any help on phonetic pronunciation and the most suitable font would be greatly received.

I hope I don't annoy anyone on the other forum when I post this again but my partner is looking for the same in Scottish Gaelic as that is their ancestry.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any help you can give.

Many thanks indeed,

Tim Molloy

"Gleoiteog" means "cutie". The diminutive of that is "gleoiteoigín".

So maybe "Ó, a ghleoiteog tusa." But there are other words equally
possible. You can check on

https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/

and search for "pretty" or similar meanings and see other
possibilities.

And it's best to wait to get more input especially for
engraving on a ring as there may be something better.

Cheers,

Tim

In addressing (a ...), there's never a "you" (tú, tusa) in Irish as it is in other languages.
Using gleoiteog: A ghleoiteog ó!

The expression "pretty thing" is very American, and would sound a bit odd in Irish if used for a person, so I second the approach taken by Labhrás. If you want some variations on that theme, these would also work (and also have a bit of an internal rhythm to them):

A chailín ghleoite ó
O pretty girl
A chailín álainn ó
O beautiful girl

or, using a somewhat poetic word for a girl/maiden:

A ainnir ghleoite ó
O pretty girl
A ainnir álainn ó
O beautiful

If you really want to use "pretty thing", trusting that people will know the song and understand what you mean, then:

A rud gleoite ó
O pretty thingl
A rud álainn ó
O beautiful thing!

The pronunciation is hard to indicate without using the IPA (which I don't know well), but you can hear it spoken if you input the Irish text at this site (select the Dingle option for a Munster approach):
https://abair.ie/en/

_________________
I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Thank you.

Very nice.

Wow

Thank you so much - you're all wonderful to have taken the time to respond. Truly appreciate it!

Tim