Sayings of Welsh Parents

[C0rdelia]

You tell them something mildly interesting.

Nooooor. I never.

@hollygoflightly thank you!!!

@DeRigueurMortis “cau dy geg” means shut your mouth!

I wish I knew more Welsh. It was taught to everybody for the first three years at my secondary school, then you gave it up in the fourth year if it wasn't one of your O level choices (that ages me).
However, I lived abroad for years 2 and 3 so only received the 1st year's teaching.
For some odd reason the lessons and vocabulary were themed around "Red Indians", which obviously sounds horribly inappropriate and incorrect these days (and ages me further).
So, I can't eg ask the location of a bus stop, but I can say (? spelling after all these years): Mae'r bual yn rhedeg ar y paith.

Which means: The buffalo are running on the prairie

What’s the whole thing. Something like (my spelling)

Icha vie, mucha die

[quote Noti23]@DeRigueurMortis “cau dy geg” means shut your mouth![/quote]

So another poster explained below .

My mum (I think) said it was hold your tongue but it was used as I remember by my GM when I was been a stroppy rude teen - and given GM was very much someone to say what she meant so I think correct translation make more sense to me in context

@BestIsWest

I used to hear "nos da" as "no star" too

Awww this is lovely 😊. Things I remember most are:

Ych a vie
Cwtch up
Iechyd da
Bach

Daps, Ycha fi, cau dy gig, bore da/ nos da.

Sion corn.

I’m going to take some stuff to my parents in 2 weeks. How do I say, Hello Dad.?

Most of mine are holiday related. Christmas/ New Years / Easter etc

This is so wonderful and has made me really miss my Mamgu and Dacu. We had a lot of these when they were still around, and my mammy is obvs Welsh so she says a few!

Bore Da Something

Mum was a welsh speaker but we lived in England.
DB and I weren’t brought up speaking welsh sadly but I used to listen to her talking to her friends in welsh on the phone.
Phrases which stick in my mind:
Chwarae teg
Cariad Bach
Di awn

Apologies if spellings are incorrect!

Miss her very much.

Helo tad?

Cwtch confused me on Gavin and Stacy, my dm used a cwtch as cupboard or cubby hole, if she said something was in the cwtch she meant the cupboard under the stairs!

The etymology of the word cwtch is from a medieval welsh word which means small safe place [to hide a person or a thing] which is why it can mean cupboard or hug. It also probably has a connection with the English word "crouch"

@TheFairyGarden

Whose coat is that jacket?

If you fall off there and break your leg don’t come running to me!

I have no idea what this one means, or how to spell it if someone wants to have a go at translation. It’s something my grandmother always said when she was annoyed...

Jow Lariod a meplyn peploeth 🤷🏻‍♀️

Jow Lariod will be 'diawl erioed' which is a sort of 'good grief/good God' type of exclamation.

Can't really make out 'meplyn peploeth' though peploeth does sound a little bit like 'penblwydd' which means birthday.

Probably. :-)

C0rdelia

I’m going to take some stuff to my parents in 2 weeks. How do I say, Hello Dad.?

Bearing in mind my scant but very niche Welsh vocabulary, you don't want to impress him by asking where your moccasins are, do you?

No.

Didn't think so

@C0rdelia

What’s the whole thing. Something like (my spelling)

Icha vie, mucha die

Ych-a-fi, mochyn du - Ych-a-fi, black pig (rhymes - fi/vee du/dee).

Golly this is bring back so many good memories!!

One was a Christmas and getting wrapped up warm to listen to my GF sing as part of the mining choir - it was amazing, those voices/harmonies etc....

Getting a cwtch from my GM and eating her bara brith and cawl.

A slightly sad story was I inherited a gold sovereign broach from my great aunt.

Her husband had got his first job down the local pit and they were pretty poor. She'd been looking forward to his first wage packet to buy food and he came back empty handed. She was furious thinking he'd spent it down the pub or at the bookies but he gave her the broach and explained he'd spent his wages on that so if anything happened to him in the pit she could sell it and have some money to tide her over for a while.

He then apparently foraged (and probably poached) food to keep them going until his next wage.

They were together 30 years until he died from emphysema from working down the pits .

I’m a welsh speaker but most of these phrases I love and have enjoyed on this thread came from my English speaking family - “Duw duw”, “cutch”, “Ych a fi”. Mind you, neither Mam nor Dad spoke welsh so maybe I would have also picked up some more Cymry Cymraeg stuff if they had!
My Nanna (in the valleys) always said “bosh” for sink - “Put it over by there, in the bosh” and she and my aunties exclaimed “Nefi Blue” when surprised, which I always interpreted as a way of avoiding what must have been a VERY mild swear word when they were about to say “Nef!” and changing it into the name of a colour!

@ mejon

Awh thanks for that. No it wasn’t penblwydd. I know that one 😊

Nan was forever saying this sentence when she was in a tizz about something. Problem is she used to say it too fast for us to break it down.

I’ve probably spelt it all wrong - but your spelling of diawl erioed sounds perfect. Da iawn ⭐️

@C0rdelia

Can’t do the spelling but we and 2 generations down still do.

Acha vie

For something horrible.

Yes, us too. I've no idea what it really means, and my Welsh mum is no longer around to ask, but it's a brilliant expression anyway!

Now then

Big light

‘So, he went to the doctor with his foot’ (as if he could have left it behind)

How come?

And I’ll tell you for why