You talkin' to me?
August 26, 2010 11:02 AM Subscribe
Isn't that Frank Kelly as the Irish speaking man in the pub? I was taken aback by seeing him saying, well, anything coherent.
posted by Electric Dragon at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by Electric Dragon at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010
Charles Manson.
posted by sonic meat machine at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by sonic meat machine at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
God damn it.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Raibh a fhios agat Paddy labhrann Sínis?
posted by longsleeves at 11:34 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by longsleeves at 11:34 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I really liked this.
I'm sure I'm not alone here, but being an American of Irish ancestry, I remember the period of time when I was really interested in my roots and spent a month trying to learn Irish Gaelic, only to be completely confounded by the pronunciation rules. The only exposure I get now is the rare time I go to the pub trivia night at Fado in Austin, and hear someone ask what the bartender's shirts say.
posted by hanoixan at 11:35 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm sure I'm not alone here, but being an American of Irish ancestry, I remember the period of time when I was really interested in my roots and spent a month trying to learn Irish Gaelic, only to be completely confounded by the pronunciation rules. The only exposure I get now is the rare time I go to the pub trivia night at Fado in Austin, and hear someone ask what the bartender's shirts say.
posted by hanoixan at 11:35 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
completely inappropriate use of more inside. mystery meat video.
Description:
A bored Chinese shopkeep learns Gaelic and moves to Dublin only to find the locals no longer speak their mother tongue. Follow Yu Ming as he pursues his dream of life in the Celtic world.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:42 AM on August 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
Description:
A bored Chinese shopkeep learns Gaelic and moves to Dublin only to find the locals no longer speak their mother tongue. Follow Yu Ming as he pursues his dream of life in the Celtic world.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:42 AM on August 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
I once met a Chinese genleman named Tak Cameron. He took up playing Scottish bagpipes and got hself adopted into Clan Cameron.
He went to San Francisco to attend some sort of contest in Highland piping. Wonder what ever became of him..
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:49 AM on August 26, 2010
He went to San Francisco to attend some sort of contest in Highland piping. Wonder what ever became of him..
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:49 AM on August 26, 2010
I usually skip any short films because of my weak attention span but this one I really liked.
A bored Chinese shopkeep learns Gaelic and moves to Dublin only to find the locals no longer speak their mother tongue. Follow Yu Ming as he pursues his dream of life in the Celtic world.
What? That gives away a key moment, perhaps the most enjoyable one, halfway through the film.
posted by solmyjuice at 11:50 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
A bored Chinese shopkeep learns Gaelic and moves to Dublin only to find the locals no longer speak their mother tongue. Follow Yu Ming as he pursues his dream of life in the Celtic world.
What? That gives away a key moment, perhaps the most enjoyable one, halfway through the film.
posted by solmyjuice at 11:50 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: languagehat.com minus insightful comments and professional background
posted by Throw away your common sense and get an afro! at 11:54 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Throw away your common sense and get an afro! at 11:54 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm not convinced that it's not a 13-minute Guinness commercial destined to go quietly viral; but it's a damned fine 13-minute Guinness commercial. Slainte!
posted by Mike D at 11:57 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by Mike D at 11:57 AM on August 26, 2010
Yeah, this is a great one. I love the guy behind the bar with the swinging elbows trying to sell him a Guinness, "It's Irish!"
posted by iamkimiam at 11:58 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 11:58 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Can't watch the video yet, but it reminds me of when I was younger and decided for no good reason to try to convince new people I'd met that I was Irish. (Something to do with my obsession for U2, I guess.) Which was mostly funny because I look like and am Han Chinese. Once in a while somebody would hesitate for a bit about whether I was bullshitting them. I love bullshitting people but I also worry about people believing my BS for too long, so I would take the BS too far and in this case I would talk about how the old familys in County Cork were the O'Sullivans, Kennedys, and Zhangs.
posted by kmz at 11:59 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by kmz at 11:59 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
An hÉireann, idir fhir agus fear Sínis siúl isteach i bar ...
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:02 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:02 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I like how the old guy shows him how to wait for his Guinness to settle before taking a sip.
posted by HyperBlue at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by HyperBlue at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2010
Loved this like mad. Thanks so much.
posted by lumpenprole at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by lumpenprole at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2010
I think that's the first time I've heard Irish Gaelic spoken - lovely. That was really neat, thank you.
posted by zennish at 12:37 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by zennish at 12:37 PM on August 26, 2010
But best of all the Chinese people themselves. Look at them there, aren't they great? The Chinese; a great bunch of lads.
<pedant>It's just plain old Irish, actually.</pedant>
posted by infinitewindow at 1:12 PM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
<pedant>It's just plain old Irish, actually.</pedant>
posted by infinitewindow at 1:12 PM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Gaeilge, if you're gonna be a supa-pedant.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:14 PM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:14 PM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
I love how he picks Ireland at random, it could have been Indonesia or Peru. Wouldn't it be wonderful to slough off everything and reboot your life like that? Oh yes.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:26 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Kevin Street at 1:26 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Man, that teetered right on the line between over-sentimental and affectingly thought-provoking. How delighted I was when it fell onto the right side.
posted by Decani at 1:34 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by Decani at 1:34 PM on August 26, 2010
He has a surprising ability to become fluent in a very different language in a short time.
posted by found missing at 1:36 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by found missing at 1:36 PM on August 26, 2010
He has a surprising ability to become fluent in a very different language in a short time.
posted by found missing at 9:36 PM on August 26
And in my experience, some people really do have that ability.
posted by Decani at 1:50 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by found missing at 9:36 PM on August 26
And in my experience, some people really do have that ability.
posted by Decani at 1:50 PM on August 26, 2010
Also, it looked like his instruction book was in English. So I guess he knew English but was too dismayed to use it? Or are there Irish language instruction books in Chinese languages?
posted by amethysts at 2:52 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by amethysts at 2:52 PM on August 26, 2010
What? That gives away a key moment, perhaps the most enjoyable one, halfway through the film.
That's the description that's on the linked video page.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2010
That's the description that's on the linked video page.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2010
Loved it. Favorited.
(though, to be fair, I'm a man of Irish descent who speaks some Chinese)
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2010
(though, to be fair, I'm a man of Irish descent who speaks some Chinese)
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2010
Ana mhaith
posted by Elmore at 3:18 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Elmore at 3:18 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
OK, I watched it all the way through. It was really good.
posted by Elmore at 3:39 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by Elmore at 3:39 PM on August 26, 2010
Anyone know who did the score? I thought I recognized some of it, but I'm not sure where it's from.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:49 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:49 PM on August 26, 2010
The Chinese grocery store looks exactly like the ones we have here in Australia. I now realise that they're not just places that sell food; they're a little bit of China for expats. This is a bit sad but sweet, like many Chinese desserts.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:24 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:24 PM on August 26, 2010
zennish: "that's the first time I've heard Irish Gaelic spoken"
"Irish" or "Gaelic". Saying both makes as much sense as asking for "naan bread". Or is it the English Anglic you're speaking now?
posted by meehawl at 4:55 PM on August 26, 2010
"Irish" or "Gaelic". Saying both makes as much sense as asking for "naan bread". Or is it the English Anglic you're speaking now?
posted by meehawl at 4:55 PM on August 26, 2010
To be precise, the Irish language spoken in Ireland is Gaeilge, and in Scotland the Irish-derived language spoken is Gàidhlig. Or at least that's how it was beaten into me.
posted by meehawl at 4:58 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by meehawl at 4:58 PM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
So Chinese people can't use a knife and fork?
I was about to be annoyed at that too, but thinking back on when I first got to the US, while I could use a fork pretty easily, it did take me a while to get used to the idea that you want the knife in your dominant hand when you're cutting. It just seemed so cumbersome to switch back and forth.
This is a bit sad but sweet, like many Chinese desserts.
What?
posted by kmz at 6:50 PM on August 26, 2010
I was about to be annoyed at that too, but thinking back on when I first got to the US, while I could use a fork pretty easily, it did take me a while to get used to the idea that you want the knife in your dominant hand when you're cutting. It just seemed so cumbersome to switch back and forth.
This is a bit sad but sweet, like many Chinese desserts.
What?
posted by kmz at 6:50 PM on August 26, 2010
Not in every knife and fork using country do they switch back and forth between hands. (See, for example, Germany--a country of very efficient eaters.)
posted by found missing at 6:54 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by found missing at 6:54 PM on August 26, 2010
When I lived in England, nobody did the hand switching knifey forkey thing. I presume that wasn't unique to bath.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:17 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:17 PM on August 26, 2010
Oh wow! Now that I've actually had time to watch it, I recognize a bunch of locations from our honeymoon in Dublin!
We actually stayed at the Hotel Isaacs, and I did our laundry at the adjoining Isaacs Hostel. I had a similar experience to Yu Ming, as the on-duty clerk spoke near-unintelliglbe English (but to be fair, my French when I was directing a fellow traveler to a nearby swimming center was atrocious).
posted by infinitewindow at 9:13 PM on August 26, 2010
We actually stayed at the Hotel Isaacs, and I did our laundry at the adjoining Isaacs Hostel. I had a similar experience to Yu Ming, as the on-duty clerk spoke near-unintelliglbe English (but to be fair, my French when I was directing a fellow traveler to a nearby swimming center was atrocious).
posted by infinitewindow at 9:13 PM on August 26, 2010
This video makes me feel bad because I studied Irish for 14 years and now can barely speak a word of it. Although Yu Ming's thick Dublin accent reassures me that he didn't actually learn better Irish than me in six months.
posted by minifigs at 5:03 AM on August 27, 2010
posted by minifigs at 5:03 AM on August 27, 2010
Sorry - Wikipedia says 'Irish Gaelic' is used to distinguish between Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the video's description says 'Gaelic', and I thought plain old 'Gaelic' refers to Scottish Gaelic, so...
My mistake - ulp!
the more you knooooow
posted by zennish at 9:21 AM on August 27, 2010
My mistake - ulp!
the more you knooooow
posted by zennish at 9:21 AM on August 27, 2010
zennish: "I thought plain old 'Gaelic' refers to Scottish Gaelic"
I learned Irish in Ireland, so the Scottish habit of sticking even more extra letters and even backwards fadas onto things just seems like showing off - exhibit A: Gàidhlig. I'm not sure most Gàidhlig speakers even know what to do with the à. And don't get me started on the craziness that is Manx orthography. I think the only thing weirder I've seen personally is Maltese latinised Arabic.
posted by meehawl at 10:49 AM on August 27, 2010
I learned Irish in Ireland, so the Scottish habit of sticking even more extra letters and even backwards fadas onto things just seems like showing off - exhibit A: Gàidhlig. I'm not sure most Gàidhlig speakers even know what to do with the à. And don't get me started on the craziness that is Manx orthography. I think the only thing weirder I've seen personally is Maltese latinised Arabic.
posted by meehawl at 10:49 AM on August 27, 2010
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and the Languagehat.
love is abound.
makes go round
the color and....timre of the 'lookin at me' scene was good. fitting.
posted by clavdivs at 11:16 AM on August 26, 2010