One of the characters in my book speaks with a strong Irish accent. I'm trying to come up with a good choice of words to describe it. So far I've got 'thick Irish lilt' but i'm not sure I like that. Any other suggestions?
Better phrase than 'thick irish lilt'
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lilt, as in an "intonation"--but I never really liked that phrase. I know i've heard "a thick Irish broque" a few times in the past and it seems a good solution. Its always a ton of fun when there a word you want to use but you just can't remember what it is--and in this case that was the word that was eluding me.
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Brogue is exactly what popped in my head when I saw this thread.
frisco: It was probably just a typo, but I wanted to make sure you knew that brogue is spelled with a G, not a Q.
yeah, it was a typo. Not sure how my finger managed to wander all the way to the Q but it did lol.
Brogue, from OI broc, possibly from ON/OE brok/broc was initially a reference to the sturdy thick-soled shoes worn by Irish laborers newly arrived in the U.S.
It's fairly standard now as a reference to an Irish dialect, or accent. The association with wing-tips in the Wikipedia article is . . . a little odd to me. I'm doubtful.
It's fairly standard now as a reference to an Irish dialect, or accent. The association with wing-tips in the Wikipedia article is . . . a little odd to me. I'm doubtful.
Personally, as an Irish person, and no offence meant to anyone so please don't take it as such, the word "brogue" makes me cringe as it throws up the stereotypes of the Darby O'Gill era. Just IMHO.
And yes, brogue is the Irish (Gaelic) for shoes!
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LOL
This thread reminded me of this time when I was in the Irish Club in my city and this guy was sitting at the same table as me. he turned to me and said "something". To this day I still have no idea what he said. I remember looking at him blankly for a second trying to process what he said. Then he said something that I completely understood. He turned to another friends and said:
"She's a wee bit daft. Don't tell me that's the girl you dragged me down here to meet."
This thread reminded me of this time when I was in the Irish Club in my city and this guy was sitting at the same table as me. he turned to me and said "something". To this day I still have no idea what he said. I remember looking at him blankly for a second trying to process what he said. Then he said something that I completely understood. He turned to another friends and said:
"She's a wee bit daft. Don't tell me that's the girl you dragged me down here to meet."
Brogue is what I thought when I saw the thread.
You might find this place useful for finding one-word things: http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
You might find this place useful for finding one-word things: http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
I agree, a lilt is an intonation--and it's a light, musical intonation, so "thick" doesn't work with "lilt" at all. "Brogue" is the word to use here.
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lilt works much better when describing Welsh people speaking English. ahhh! so musical!
Anne Marie- you're better off without him. Sounds like a rascal.
Anne Marie- you're better off without him. Sounds like a rascal.
Personally, as an Irish person, and no offence meant to anyone so please don't take it as such, the word "brogue" makes me cringe as it throws up the stereotypes of the Darby O'Gill era. Just IMHO.
And yes, brogue is the Irish (Gaelic) for shoes!
No, actually, it's not. It's an English version of the Modern Irish bróg, singula, bróga, plural, from the Old Irish broc.
I very much doubt that you will find -gue on an authentic pre-Norman Irish word--it's a French suffix.
That "Welsh lilt" is because in Welsh the penultimate syllable of a word, any word, gets accented. It's as much a core aspect of Welsh as iambs are for English.
Needed word
Commonly accepted usage and distinction is 'Irish brogue' and 'Scottish burr.' If you want a slight change, you might say 'heavy,' rather than 'thick.' You can always fall back on 'accent.'
Commonly accepted usage and distinction is 'Irish brogue' and 'Scottish burr.' If you want a slight change, you might say 'heavy,' rather than 'thick.' You can always fall back on 'accent.'
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lilt works much better when describing Welsh people speaking English. ahhh! so musical!
Anne Marie- you're better off without him. Sounds like a rascal.
LOL
He was a bit on the jerky side - when I could understand what he was saying.
It bloody bloody bloody is. Brogues are shoes.
Don't make me post a photo of Colin Farrell to prove my point. Don't make me.
You're absolutely right. I was aware of that. I just meant that phonetically, it was the same. Sorry. I should have clarified.
On standby?! Bloody hell woman, like you need an excuse? Break out the Farrell, confoundit!
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