Time waits for no-one, except me
By Primal Sneeze ~ October 28th, 2007. Filed under: Fun, Gaeilge, Shopping, Time.
Tempus fugit – time flees – not time flies as is the common misconception. That would be something like tempus volvit, but the linguist among us can correct me – over to you Gayé. How we came to translate it as time flies is just probably that it makes more sense in English that way.
On languages, while we’re on the subject, I am considering making a representation to the Terminology Committee of Foras na Gaeilge – If the act of shopping is translated as ag siopadóireacht, then surely going to the Italian take-away should be ag chipeadóireacht and likewise, buying sweet and sour pork with fried rice should be ag chineadóireacht.
Anyway, back to time. Why am I obsessed with it these days? I seldom rush. Rushing leads to mistakes. If I’m going somewhere, I leave early and am never late. An erstwhile Mrs. Sneeze insisted we, or rather I, try the leave early so she’d never be late system, and while it worked, it wasn’t any fun. She got dumped fairly rapid I tell you. Bad hair anyway. But that’s a story for another day.
Now I’m not advocating being painstakingly slow either, which is something I must explain to the staff down my local.
I know what time the sun rises and sets. I know when it’s midday. That would be enough for me were it not that a lot more precision is required when dealing with people. The dog is happy being fed at dawn, a good ramble and a chat at noon and a snack at dusk. People don’t seem to like me saying I’ll meet you 2 hours after sunrise. So I am forced into wearing a watch.
And a grand watch it is. I have it 12 years and like most of my possessions it came to me in a roundabout way. A lad bought it off a lad who was a jeweller for half-price as a gift for his father, only to realise that his father couldn’t use it because of failing sight. He sold it on to me at half what he paid. So I got a £200 watch for £50. 5 year guarantee and all.
The problem is the winder broke off three times. The first two repairs cost me more than the watch itself so I’m not getting it fixed again. It wasn’t an issue until the beginning of this month when the date needed changing. But I could live without having the correct date. Now though, I’ve bigger problem. The hour has changed. Instead of being 24 hours out, I’m 25. Or 23. Hard to work out and very confusing.
In the shop this morning, the talk was all of changing clocks. My watch is 23 hours slow was met with strange looks. But I’m used to that. Just yesterday in the same shop I asked the girl do you do laces and when she said yes, I lifted my foot up on the counter. She actually tied them by the way.
So here’s what I want for Christmas in case you were thinking of getting me something. A portable sundial. See it’s got a little compass and spirit level built in. Perfect. No adjustments needed and what moving parts there are, are all enclosed.
Those sundials are great yokes. They are even waterproof down to 100 feet! They tend not to be very accurate after sunset though….
‘do you do laces’ – I love it!
Do sundials work when the sun is hiding?
Grandad – The topside (pictured) is solar powered. The underside is lunar-powered. So you just flip it over and it works fine.
Grannymar – Do you do laces? Believe me, I’m close to being barred from that shop for pulling stunts like that. Last week I had a newbie check the special orders cabinet for my copy of Farming Firearms Monthly.
Hee hee: An erstwhile Mrs. Sneeze insisted we, or rather I, try the leave early so she’d never be late system
It took me a few seconds to get that one. Not the sharpest tool in the bag on a Monday morning. Hilarious…
“Il tempo vola” in Italian – time flies here too. Wonder if anyone kept “flees”?
man, primal, keep the puns for the prose! ‘do you do laces’ is just mortifying. i’d have taken the scissors to them if i were her.
ag chipeadóireacht however, is pure gold…
Time flees = tempus fugit, this in Turkish is used in the context of “flowing” as in water; “Time flows like water” is the literal translation. It is interesting to realize, thanks to the thought you put out there, that we don’t use the term “flee”. Maybe it’s because the ancestors were pretty much pagans and they worshipped the sun, the moon, water and everything else, a lot of the idioms have natural elements in them.
Title of your post “tempus neminem manet”. I swear I get totally mad when people slag Latin, it just sounds too sophisticated to be dead… Besides, give me a phonetic language anytime. And, it is great help if one wants to learn every other Latin-based language. Well, shoot me, but I just love Latin.
Advocatus diaboli is one of my favourite phrases.
I want to learn Irish, once I get done with Russian I will harrass you guys over what program I should enroll in to do this properly.
I am not sure about the sun-dial for Christmas, but I think I can afford to get you a spiffy 3-minute hourglass should you so desire.
PS: I adore people who are never late despite never hurrying. I never know how to do it.
About the chipeadóireacht bit, perhaps I can interest you in the following list of 157 words ending in -óireacht that already exist in Irish, from adhmadóireacht (woodworking) to fáidheadóireacht (prophesying) all the way to uaimheadóireacht (caving). Most of them are weirdly wonderful, your own coinage would be in great company there: click here.
Caro – It’s Monday for me today seeing as my watch is 23 hours slow so I’m not very sharp either.
Rosie – Do you do laces? caught her off guard so she didn’t know what to do and just complied. Folk will do that. Try this: Walk down the street. Pause beside a total stranger and in a conversational (not friendly or stern) tone ask what’s in the bag? They will tell you. Don’t spoil it by hanging around. Move off briskly. Works ever time.
Gayé – Maybe flees had connotations of defeat. As in fleeing from the victor in battle.
I had a disaster of a Latin teacher but what I did pick up was of great help to me in my primary degree which was a biological science one. Plant and animal taxonomy was easy.
I use the English equivalent of advocatus diaboli daily – in my work, finding potential faults before they occur is vital.
Ask An Cainteoir about Irish courses. I reckon he’d know. I expect you’ll find Irish easy as it has a phonetic aspect too, in that all letters are pronounced and always the same way, even though it may not appear so on first hearing it spoken. There is really only one tricky sound to master (one that is generally ignored by most teachers) and that is the glot sound made from the base of the throat in words like lán. If not mastered, then the Irish lán sounds exactly like the English lawn.
A Chainteoir – Man, what a list. There is plenty there to distract me for hours. How do I go about getting mine in there?
Well, as you said yourself, you can make a suggestion to the Terminology Committee. We even made a handy form available for you to do that: http://www.focal.ie/Enquiry.aspx
As for Irish classes, I strongly recommend Gaelchultúr in Temple Bar. Don’t go for any of the traditional providers like Conradh na Gaeilge or Gael-Linn, those’ll just bore you to death and put you off the language for ever.
And by the way, I disagree with you on the pronunciation of lán, Primal. Only bog-trodden savages from Donegal pronounce it like that.
Primal – you’re too funny – may I steal some of these gems to use as my own?
A Chainteoir – Ah, you’re always giving out about muck savages. We’re actually nice folk at the back of it all.
Oh, and agreed on Conradh na Gaeilge and Gael-Linn.
Conorín – Work away. Be my guest.
An Cainteoir Dóchais – Is é sruthán éadomhain a labhrann go dána
For a true survivalist in the wilderness however, a potable sundial is best.
It’s good that you got your laces tied. I received a rather different reaction when I went into a shop I thought was the one-hour photo place (but wasn’t) and asked the attractive lady at the counter how much it would be for an enlargement.
Next time ask her if she does zips and see what she says.
Bock – She must have thought you were taking those emails for real.
Sam – Read this earlier, tried it later and am totally barred now. Thanks.