tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post1571286102998584498..comments2024-03-15T07:23:41.562-04:00Comments on You Don't Say: A caution about St. Patrick's DayJohn McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-80196180752535353782010-03-17T14:25:51.554-04:002010-03-17T14:25:51.554-04:00St Patrick himself was, specifically, Welsh. And ...St Patrick himself was, specifically, Welsh. And the Welsh Patron Saint is in fact St David! He has his day on the first of March, and we manage not to go around getting crazy drunk. What's with that???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-31407302836803931202010-03-14T17:14:55.002-04:002010-03-14T17:14:55.002-04:00Here in Dublin people say "Paddy's day&qu...Here in Dublin people say "Paddy's day". A couple of years ago the staff of RTÉ were reprimanded for using the colloquial form instead of the more official "St Patrick's Day".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-35008346773917417072010-03-09T07:01:03.258-05:002010-03-09T07:01:03.258-05:00Apparently "Patty's Day" trended on ...Apparently "Patty's Day" trended on Twitter last year, so it's evidently a widespread gaffe. Your correction is well judged. Here are a few thoughts I posted to an Irish blog last year, when the subject <a href="http://www.gavinsblog.com/2009/03/16/irish-central/" rel="nofollow">arose</a> (and aroused as much irate exasperation as tolerant amusement):<br /><br />When I hear Patty I think of patties, or Patty and Selma Bouvier.<br /><br />American English pronunciation is more staccato than Irish English, which tends towards glissando (sometimes so much it almost slurs). So the -tt- sound in Patty’s Day would have a harder edge than we give it. In Ireland it just sounds and looks a bit wet. Using Patty’s Day might also stem from a perception that Paddy is a pejorative or even RACIST!!1! word.Stan Careyhttp://stancarey.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-61139516084503335992010-03-06T22:27:12.940-05:002010-03-06T22:27:12.940-05:00I work at a weekly and carefully edited out the &q...I work at a weekly and carefully edited out the "Patty" from a press release I got. But there it was, making us look dumb, in another section of the paper. Arrrgghh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-31179720984632740012010-03-06T20:12:41.866-05:002010-03-06T20:12:41.866-05:00I'm too young to remember him, but my great gr...I'm too young to remember him, but my great grandfather was called "Darby," not because that was his name (it wasn't), but -- according to my grandmother -- because that was the term for pay/cash/money and that's what he'd bring home (when he made it home). She says they'd all just say "Darby's home," and that became what they called him. <br /><br />My favorite story about him is the one in which the whole family is in a panic and neighbors are gathering to offer condolences because his car rolled off the Staten Island ferry as it docked, and all assumed he drowned in it, but he had been drunk on the ferry and forgot his car was on it, and walked off it straight to the bar before heading home, and that's where he really was.traceychennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-21403330218731058262010-03-06T19:44:35.542-05:002010-03-06T19:44:35.542-05:00Here, in the center of Buenos Aires, people do cel...Here, in the center of Buenos Aires, people do celebrate St. Patrick's Day (= "el día de San Patricio"), though most of them have no idea what it means. But everyone gets drunk on beer, first into the bars... then wandering the streets all night.Virginia Merchánnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-47867290411731877992010-03-06T09:20:32.528-05:002010-03-06T09:20:32.528-05:00Don't give in to the idiots, Mr McIntyre. The...Don't give in to the idiots, Mr McIntyre. The Scotch-Irish Presbyterian fellows are genuinely Irish, too (just as the Irish-descended Scots don't stop being Scots). Those of the Northern Irish who choose to remain British don't become less Irish as a result.Pickynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-91837113702632247102010-03-06T08:09:53.918-05:002010-03-06T08:09:53.918-05:00Finally! Someone who get the Padraig connection wi...Finally! Someone who get the Padraig connection with both the saint and the nickname. 'Patty' is a girl (as in 'Peppermint Patty'), Paddy is for men. The older generation sometimes used 'Pa' (pronounced paaaaa) while the younger generation goes by Pat (both for Patrick and Padraig (pronounced poor-ick)). There isn't a single Irishman within my family or my acquaintance who uses 'Paddy' as a nickname.<br />Thank you, John, for setting this straight.<br /><br />Cailin (pronounced Cah-LEEN or Colleen)Cailinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371931937825074414noreply@blogger.com