Why (oh why) do Irish people use "bring" instead of "take"?

20-03-2011 06:41AM

Looking for a job teaching english right now but only got 2 answers right in the test.. Fek.

Iwannahurl · 20-03-2011 09:33PM

I heard the presenter of a documentary on RTE Radio 1 just recently referring to a "twenty tree year old fawder". That kind of pronunciation grates on my ears, like two pieces of Aerobord rubbed together.

It made me think, though. I realise this is a personal prejudice and that such Irish peculiarities of speech are not necessarily impediments to success. There are many high achievers in this country -- in politics, business, sports, entertainment and the media -- who are regularly heard talking about dis, dat and de udder ting, and their mode of speech has never held them back. I doubt saying bring instead of take has ever damaged their careers either.

As a former TEFL teacher, though, I think that language teaching requires higher standards. TEFL is big business in Ireland, and it would be unfair to take foreigners' money and then fob them off with a(n even more) bastardised version of the language. Foreign students of English pay good money for proper tuition, and some of them even have to take exams that are of far greater importance than the routine exercises and tests.

m@cc@ · 20-03-2011 10:49PM

murpho999 wrote: »

I hope that was a joke because the apostrophe in "prick's" is definitely wrong there!

So is the one in 'Nazi's'.

Liam Byrne · 20-03-2011 10:51PM

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Among other things, bring means "to come conveying".

In Ireland we are always bringing things when we should, strictly speaking, be taking them.

Are you a bringer or a taker?

Here's a brief online explanation and usage test: http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/bring-vs-take

Please post your score here.

Surely "bring" and "take" are the subjective equivalent of "come" and "go" ?

Krusader · 20-03-2011 11:18PM

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I heard the presenter of a documentary on RTE Radio 1 just recently referring to a "twenty tree year old fawder". That kind of pronunciation grates on my ears, like two pieces of Aerobord rubbed together.

It made me think, though. I realise this is a personal prejudice and that such Irish peculiarities of speech are not necessarily impediments to success. There are many high achievers in this country -- in politics, business, sports, entertainment and the media -- who are regularly heard talking about dis, dat and de udder ting, and their mode of speech has never held them back. I doubt saying bring instead of take has ever damaged their careers either.

As a former TEFL teacher, though, I think that language teaching requires higher standards. TEFL is big business in Ireland, and it would be unfair to take foreigners' money and then fob them off with a(n even more) bastardised version of the language. Foreign students of English pay good money for proper tuition, and some of them even have to take exams that are of far greater importance than the routine exercises and tests.

What's wrong with speaking in your dialect, should we all speak the queen's english. i don't think so

marco_polo · 20-03-2011 11:28PM

Meh , when the originators of of the language can't even be bothered to to pronounce 'h' properly who cares?

Iwannahurl · 25-03-2011 01:31PM

I heard a reporter on Primetime this week referring to Esat Digiphone going from "strent to strent". That's not dialect, it's bad diction. Aargh.

On the other hand, here is a delicious, though incomplete, feast of real Hiberno-English: A History of Ireland in 100 Euphemisms.

FatherLen · 25-03-2011 01:39PM

all correct answers!!!
off to mensa for me!!!

25-03-2011 01:41PM

Crosáidí wrote: »

What's wrong with speaking in your dialect, should we all speak the queen's english. i don't think so

It hinders your ability to read, apparently -
"I realise this is a personal prejudice and that such Irish peculiarities of speech are not necessarily impediments to success."

:rolleyes:

As for irritating dialects, I was listening to a conversation about the "Doyle" on the radio yesterday

walshb · 25-03-2011 02:02PM

barbarians wrote: »

I only got one wrong.

What difference does it make anyway, they both sound fine to me.

Me too, the last one....

I agree, both are fine as long as the tense is correct. Looks like the language was designed to be deliberately anal.

Iwannahurl · 25-03-2011 02:10PM

walshb wrote: »

Me too, the last one....

I agree, both are fine as long as the tense is correct. Looks like the language was designed to be deliberately anal.

I don't think foreign students of English would succeed with using that approach in an exam.

HoneyRyder · 25-03-2011 02:10PM

Agricola wrote: »

Every Saturday evening I get a fish n chip in the local bringaway

Chips dammit -it's chipsssssssssss!!!!!!! PLU-RAL.

r3nu4l · 25-03-2011 02:17PM

Crosáidí wrote: »

What's wrong with speaking in your dialect, should we all speak the queen's english. i don't think so

Well I hope not because a study of the use of English by the Queen over a long period have shown that she has adopted some tones of so-called Estuary English! You're watching too much Eastenders Liz!

Link to article in Nature

25-03-2011 02:19PM

AnonoBoy wrote: »

"Will you bring/take me to the station?"

Correct translation:

Any chance of a lift down the train stop boss?

Yeah, one time a hot American girl asked me for a ride, am now not allowed within 2000 meters.

ManFromAtlantis · 25-03-2011 02:21PM

bring that is a crap band.

this is your captain, we are ready for bring off.

all irish pilots say that. seriously.

pickarooney · 25-03-2011 02:42PM

bluewolf wrote: »

The leave vs let thing is what bothers me...
"please leave me know"
"they should leave them go home"
"just leave me sit down"

IT DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE

p.s. I got full marks on your test OP

It's not even the same verb in Irish (though it is in many languages). You'd have to catch hold of one of these let-leavers and beat it out of them.

Iwannahurl · 25-03-2011 03:35PM

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

bring that is a crap band.

this is your captain, we are ready for bring off.

all irish pilots say that. seriously.

Dey only say dat to be mischievious.

25-03-2011 04:11PM

pickarooney wrote: »

It's not even the same verb in Irish (though it is in many languages). You'd have to catch hold of one of these let-leavers and beat it out of them.

They seem to be all over boards

LordSutch · 25-03-2011 04:25PM

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Why (oh why) do Irish people use "bring" instead of "take"?

Great observation, and one that I got pulled up on when working in England many years ago

It is true that you very rarely hear Irish people say the word 'Take'. There are many anomolies in the way Irish people speak English, but there are also several annoying words & phrases that English people use too . . .

The current trend in England is to say "I was sat watching the telly" or "I was stood at the bus stop" instead of the standard version "I was sitting" or "I was standing" < this really annoys the hell out of me, but its becoming the norm in British culture, and its even making appearances here too as I witnessed on Today FM just the other day!

'Ground' is another word English people have a problem with, as 99.9% of the time you will hear English people saying that they have fallen on the floor (outside), and its always the floor, where we in Ireland tend to say Ground for outside & Floor when indors, rarely if ever do you you hear an English person use the word ground.

Don't get me started on the word 'messages' in an Irish context

Ghost Buster · 25-03-2011 04:27PM

Why?
Because they are Irish. The answers in the question.
Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you. (drum rollllllllllll) HIBERNO ENGLISH!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;)

DeVore · 25-03-2011 04:28PM

Yeah I mean.... whats with that Joyce fella, sure half the words he used weren't real even....

DeV.

wilson10 · 25-03-2011 04:33PM

I done them all right.

wilson10 · 25-03-2011 04:38PM

What about brung and brang ?

What about taken, as in, "I shuda taken it wit me" ?

What about given, as in, "I shuda given her wan" ?

LordSutch · 25-03-2011 04:57PM

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Why?
Because they are Irish. The answers in the question.
Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you. (drum rollllllllllll) HIBERNO ENGLISH!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D;)

Yes yes yes, we know about hiberno English, using 'bring' instead of 'take' being a prime example, but its a good observation none the less . . .

What about the 'I was sat' & 'I was stood' trend in England, and will it spread here?

Ghost Buster · 25-03-2011 04:58PM

LordSutch wrote: »

Yes yes yes, we know about hiberno English, but its a good observation none the less . . .

What about the 'I was sat' & 'I was stood' trend?

Pesky language. It just keeps on changin'.:)

Iwannahurl · 25-03-2011 07:38PM

It does too.

Which reminds me. I thought "noo" instead of "new" was a United States and Republic of Cork phenomenon. Now I hear it a lot on RTE.

A noo linguistic development, or are are the Murkans and cute Cork hoors taking over?

bnt · 25-03-2011 07:52PM

I also suspect it's some kind of transliteration from Klingon Gaelic Irish language: there seems to be a lot of this here in Ireland, people using words without knowing what they actually mean. Oh well - that's the future, I guess.

I recently spoke to an engineer from Cork on a matter relating to bridges, which tend to have columns, but I had to restrain myself from giggling at her pronunciation of the word: "col-yums". Highly distracting - like "heighth" instead of "height". :rolleyes:

Sie · 25-03-2011 07:54PM

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Among other things, bring means "to come conveying".

In Ireland we are always bringing things when we should, strictly speaking, be taking them.

Are you a bringer or a taker?

Here's a brief online explanation and usage test: http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/bring-vs-take

Please post your score here.

Ha, tought they were synomems

Ruu_Old · 25-03-2011 07:55PM

All correct, I just won't go to the train station then.

LordSutch · 25-03-2011 09:05PM

bnt wrote: »

I recently spoke to an engineer from Cork on a matter relating to bridges, which tend to have columns, but I had to restrain myself from giggling at her pronunciation of the word: "col-yums". Highly distracting - like "heighth" instead of "height". :rolleyes:

Agreed, the "col-yums" is highly distracting but quite amusing too

(1st time I heard it I had to pause for a moment & translate it in my head) could it be . . . Tempted to correct them, but that would be so non PC. 'Noos' (meaning News) is another one which really gets my goat, and this is becoming very common on RTE (as previously stated).

Matt Cooper is always saying Wit, Boat, True, & Thought, meaning 'With' 'Both' 'Through' & 'Taught', but I think I'm veering off course there

Why (oh why) do Irish people use "bring" instead of "take"?

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