Is fearr rith maith ná drochsheasamh

A good run is better than a bad stand · Iss far rih moh naw drukh-hass-uv

Is fearr rith maith ná drochsheasamh means A good run is better than a bad stand, and is said Iss far rih moh naw drukh-hass-uv.

Word for word

Taken literally it reads Is better a run good than a bad stand. Irish often puts a sentence together differently from English, so the literal reading rarely matches the meaning.

How to say it

Say it Iss far rih moh naw drukh-hass-uv, written the way an English speaker would read it.

When you’d say it

There is no shame in walking away from a fight you cannot win. Droch is the Irish prefix for bad, and it attaches to almost anything.

More like this

• Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste: Broken Irish is better than clever English
• Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin: There's no place like home
• Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam: A country without a language is a country without a soul
• Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine: People live in each other's shadows (We rely on each other)
• 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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