Lost In Translation?

Congratulations to Carly Patterson for taking the gold medal in the gymnastics women's all around competition! The first gold for the U.S. in this event in 20 years! Congrats are in order to Michael Phelps for taking another gold in the men's 200m individual medley! Here's a list of interesting dog commands that I dug up on the web. For more see this site.

Scottish Gaelic Dog Commands

for making your modest canine companion into

"Cù Annabarach Tapaidh"!

(An exceedingly clever dog)

Here are several dog commands in use by dog owners in the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland that will make your Celtic cur the envy of all his English-speaking dog friends.

A note on speaking Scottish Gaelic:

Spoken Scottish Gaelic, unlike spoken English, flows seamlessly from word to word. If the command has more than one word in it, practice saying the whole phrase as if it were all one word, with no breaks in it.

Remember that "ch" always sounds like "Bach" or "loch." And always roll your "R"'s --though not all over the place -- more as a simple popped "R" sound.

And keep in mind that no pronunciation guide can adequately convey the unique sound of spoken Scottish Gaelic -- anyone interested in an authentic sound should consider trying one of the instructional self-study courses including videotapes and/or audiotapes, to be found on the SGLABA Books page.

The Commands

Fetch! --

-- "Faigh sin" (FAH-ee shin); or "Faigh e" (FAH-ee eh)

Down! --

-- "Sios!" (SHEE-uss) or "Gabh sios!" (gahv SHEE-uss)

Quiet! --

-- "Bi samhach!" (bee SAH-vawch)

Attack! --

-- "Gabh air!" (GAHV air)

Heel! --

-- "Thig air mo chùl!" (HEEK air moe CHOOL)

Stay! --

-- "Fuirich!" (FOO-rich)

Lie down! --

-- "Laighe!" (LAH-ee-yeh)

Come here! --

-- "Trobhad!" (TRAW-utt)

Sit! --

-- "Suidh!" (SOO-ee); or "Suidh sios!" (SOO-ee SHEE-uss)

Go home! --

-- "'Dol dhachaigh!" (Dawl YAH-chee); or "Theirig dhachaigh!" (HEH-rik YAH-chee)

Want to go for a walk? --

-- "Coisich?" (KAW-shich)

Stop that! --

-- "Sguir dheth!" (SKOOR yeh)

And for when you're walking your dog in the park, and that extremely attractive member of the opposite sex walks his-or-her dog in your direction, and the dogs go crazy sniffing each other's behinds, and your leashes tangle, and you nearly fall over each other trying to untangle the leashes, and you both laugh, and you untwine yourselves from each other, and you feverishly search for that Gàidhlig mot juste to demonstrate how fatally charming you are, you then say:

"Saoilidh mi gu bheil gaol aig mo chù air do chù!"

(I think my dog loves your dog!)

Have a happy weekend everyone!