Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi
A woman told me that a woman told her · Doort ban lum guh noort ban lay
Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi means A woman told me that a woman told her, and is said Doort ban lum guh noort ban lay.
Word for word
Taken literally it reads Said a woman to me that said a woman to her. Irish often puts a sentence together differently from English, so the literal reading rarely matches the meaning.
How to say it
Say it Doort ban lum guh noort ban lay, written the way an English speaker would read it.
When you’d say it
How to pass on a piece of gossip while disowning it entirely. There is a whole genre of Irish song built on the line.
More like this
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- Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam: A country without a language is a country without a soul
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- Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí: Praise the youth and they will flourish
- An té a bhíonn siúlach, bíonn sé scéalach: He who travels has stories to tell
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