a toothy idiom

Tue, Apr 1, 2008

I’ve just started reading Dacha mo ghaoil by Tormod MacGill-eain, a cracking writer indeed and it’s really good to pick up idiomatic speech from native speakers. Here Tormod is describing a character hitting a bend and the expression on his face as the van takes the turn:

“…bha na fiaclan ris…”

This translates literally as “the teeth were with him” and it conjures up the look on his face. Determination, terror, concentration. Such a rich idiomatic language is Gaelic. I’ve the CDs and reading the book while listening is really good for attuning your ear to the “cainnt”.