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 Post subject: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Sat 28 Jan 2017 7:41 pm 
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Good afternoon, all. Thank you to all who are willing to help me out. I am working on a tattoo of my family crest. I would like the family motto translated into munster dialect. And I would like to know how to write my family name using old-spelling.

Phrase: "To the brave and faithful man, nothing is difficult."
Name: "McCarthy"

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am open to variations on this phrase that allow for the meaning of the phrase to be best represented. I don't know if this matters but I tend to view "faithful" in terms of being faithful towards family and less on religion/spirituality. I understand that different languages have different grammar, syntax, etc. that indicate different meanings. If brave is not directly translatable I am open to words such as courageous, fearless, etc. Thank you all very much!!

Respectfully,

Justin


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Sun 29 Jan 2017 11:37 pm 
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Location: Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA
jjgray1582 wrote:
Good afternoon, all. Thank you to all who are willing to help me out. I am working on a tattoo of my family crest. I would like the family motto translated into munster dialect. And I would like to know how to write my family name using old-spelling.

Phrase: "To the brave and faithful man, nothing is difficult."
Name: "McCarthy"

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am open to variations on this phrase that allow for the meaning of the phrase to be best represented. I don't know if this matters but I tend to view "faithful" in terms of being faithful towards family and less on religion/spirituality. I understand that different languages have different grammar, syntax, etc. that indicate different meanings. If brave is not directly translatable I am open to words such as courageous, fearless, etc. Thank you all very much!!

Respectfully,

Justin


Do you want "man" to mean male specifically, or are you including the other half of your family in this?

Redwolf


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Mon 30 Jan 2017 7:22 pm 
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Location: Baile Mhic Ghoilla Eoin, VA
This is not a literal translation, but I have heard the saying

Níor chaill fear an mhisnigh riamh

It means 'never has a man of courage lost' basically.
Probably not a suitable translation of yours but perhaps a basis for one using a word/words other than 'misneach'

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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Sun 05 Feb 2017 9:04 pm 
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Thank you both for responding to my request.

Redwolf, I suppose I am looking to include both male and female in the meaning. That was a great question and I hadn't thought about that. Thanks.

Cúmhaí, thank you for offering that phrase. I like what that says. I was looking for a closer translation but that would be entirely acceptable if there isn't a closer translation.

Again, thank you for helping me out. I greatly appreciate it.


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Sun 05 Feb 2017 10:49 pm 
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jjgray1582 wrote:
Thank you both for responding to my request.

Redwolf, I suppose I am looking to include both male and female in the meaning. That was a great question and I hadn't thought about that. Thanks.

Cúmhaí, thank you for offering that phrase. I like what that says. I was looking for a closer translation but that would be entirely acceptable if there isn't a closer translation.

Again, thank you for helping me out. I greatly appreciate it.

Translation is a messy business. Often times a literal translation can be tricky, as retaining the same structure of a phrase or saying may not be possible without altering the meaning. In my view, what Cúmhaí has suggested is what you should go with, it would carry far more meaning than a literal suggestion. It's a bit like asking someone to translate "it's raining cats and dogs" - it would be meaningless in another language (incidentally, in Irish you can say "it's raining cobblers' knives). That's my 2c anyways.

Just to mix things a bit, however, I'll try throw together something more literal.

Níl tada deacair don té a bhfuil cróga agus dílis

I assume you mean faithful as in loyal? Or do you mean it like religious faith? I assumed "loyalty" above. I also reordered it because it simply sounds better like that in Irish IMO.

Wait for more input.


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Mon 06 Feb 2017 6:39 pm 
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Cúmhaí wrote:
This is not a literal translation, but I have heard the saying

Níor chaill fear an mhisnigh riamh

It means 'never has a man of courage lost' basically.
Probably not a suitable translation of yours but perhaps a basis for one using a word/words other than 'misneach'


To make this inclusive, you could replace "fear" with "duine."

Redwolf


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Tue 07 Feb 2017 6:55 am 
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My own effort

Níl deacracht ann don lucht crógra dílis

For someone who knows Latin, it might be better to work from the original Latin version: Forti et fideli nihil difficile.

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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Tue 07 Feb 2017 6:26 pm 
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Mick wrote:
My own effort

Níl deacracht ann don lucht crógra dílis

For someone who knows Latin, it might be better to work from the original Latin version: Forti et fideli nihil difficile.


I like this one!

Redwolf


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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Tue 07 Feb 2017 8:22 pm 
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Location: Baile Mhic Ghoilla Eoin, VA
Mick wrote:
Níl deacracht ann don lucht crógra dílis

I have never encountered lucht used with adjectives before (instead of genitive nouns) -- are you sure this is possible?

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 Post subject: Re: Tattoo translation
PostPosted: Wed 08 Feb 2017 1:03 am 
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I think you were also asking how to write the name McCarthy in irish. That would be: Mac Cárthaigh.
It is the most numerous Mac name in Ireland (I've got distant Mac Cárthaigh relatives myself).

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


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