Happy Saint David’s Day People! For the unaware, St. David’s Day is the Patron Saint of Wales, and - being a red blooded Welshman, I, like a lot of my countrymen, are celebrating. Of course, I’m not drinking (I still have to go into work), but I thought about what I can do to help you appreciate my culture. So I’m going to teach you a little Welsh! Baiscally, a few Welsh facts, as well as Welsh words and facts. No doubt some smart alec Welsh grammar nazi will correct me if I’m incorrect in the comments. But, as a semi-fluent Welshie, this is what I’ll say, and I’ve never had any problems. I’ve tried to pick ones that I don’t have to explain the Ll’s and the Ch’s that are abundant in Wales, so they should be easy to pronounce. Try them on your co-workers!
Five Important Welsh Sentances They Don’t Teach You In School
- Un beint o’r cwrw (ian baint or coo-roo) - One pint of beer
- Mae Cynghair Pel Droed Cymru ydy swbriel (My Cunghigher Pail Droid Cum-Ree uh-dee soob-re-ell) - The League of Wales is Rubbish
- Gae’r hi bronnau fel brynnau (Gair he bron-nai vel brin-nai) - She’s got boobs like mountains.
- Dwi eisiau mynd i’r tafarn i gael wyneb cachu (Dwee ay-shy mind ear tavarn e guy-l we-neb cack-ee) - I want to go to the pub to get shit-faced
- Wyt Ti Siarad Saesneg? (Oit Tea Sharad Sai-sneg?) - Do you speak English?
Five Welsh Words You Don’t Need Translating
- Sgam - Scam
- Plastig - Plastic
- E-Bost - E-Mail
- Tacsi - Taxi
- Slic - Slick
Five Great Welsh Sentances
- Dwi hoffi Sboncen (Dweee hoff-ee S-bonking) - I like Squash
- Dwi ddim eisiau mynd i’r Penmaenmawr achos dwi wedi gael Penmaenmawr (Dweee thim ay-shy mind ear Pen-mine-maur ac-hos dwee wed-ee guile Pen-mine-maur) - I don’t want to go to Penmaenmawr because I’m hungover.
- Dwi hoffi froffi coffi (Dwee hoff-ee Frothy Coffee) - I like frothy coffee
- Bwrw Cwrw (Boo-Roo Coo-Roo) - It’s Raining Beer
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Llan-vire-pooll-guin-gill-go-ger-u-queern-drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch) - St Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave
Five Welsh Swear Words
- Cachau bant (Cack-eye bant) - Fuck off
- Ffwcin Slebog (Fook-kin Sleb-bog) - Fucking Slut
- O Pidyn (Or Pid-din) - O cock
- Twllt Din (tookt Dear-n) - Arsehole
- Cau Dy wyneb a Ffwcio dy ewyrth (Kai duh win-neb a fook-e-o duh oirth) - Shut you fucking face, uncle fucker
Five Welsh Sentances for Han
- Cara cathau bach a chwningod (Cah-rah cath-eye bar-ch ar kwin-god) - I like kittens and bunnies
- Dwi meddwl James May ydy neis iawn (Dwee Merth-ool James May uh-dee nays yiawn) - I think James May is well fit.
- Fi angen at Briodi a klingon (Vee an-gen at Bree-oh-dee a Klingon) - I want to Marry a Klingon
- Do Rhys , Ca hystlen chennych , amdanat re rhywiau iawn (Dor Rhys, car hist len cen-ic, amd-an-at ree rhiw-ee-eye yiawn) - I’m not translating this one, I’ll get in trouble!
- Scwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii - Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*
- Apparently (I can’t confirm this) but they opened a Subway in Iraq, before they opened one in Wales.
- Colwyn Bay F.C. (1881) was formed before the likes of Tottenham Hotspur (1882), Arsenal (1886), Manchester City (1887), Liverpool, Newcastle (both 1892), Bacelona (1899) and Chelsea (1905).
- Owain Glyndwr, the Welsh Prince who led a revolt against English rule of Wales, was put to defeated by Henry V, the King of England. Owain Glyndwr was born in Hawarden, at the time disputingly English. Henry V was born in Monmouth, which was at the time disputingly Welsh.
- Parts of the North West of Wales have never been conquered, so there are people from the Anglesey/Gwynedd area who can say they are truely British, much to the ire of most of England.
- St David reportedly died on March 1st, hence why this day is St. David’s Day.
Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus i Bawb!
*May Not Be a Welsh Word
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Rhys Wynne, the author of this blog, is a 20 something web designer from Colwyn Bay.
my favourite welsh word is the word for condom.
condom = sach ddyrnu
which when translated literally back to english means something similar to “thumping sack”… i’m not kidding
i swear i just posted a comment.. oh well
Saint’s days just seem like an excuse for a piss up to me!
I was a bit perplexed by the google banner today but it now makes sense!! Do people actually do much in way of celebrate?
We used to have a girl at school that turned up in traditional welsh dress each st. davids day - she looked like a bit of a numpty tbh but she was hot so its ok!
w00t! Finally the Welsh pronounciation guide I asked for many a post ago.
And the bonus of 5 swear words. Together with “bhenchod” which my North Indian friend taught me today, I am on my way to “Cuss-em-out” heaven.
All in all, a good day. Thanks Rhys!
P.S Han, please translate that No. 4 for us, will ya?
rhys,
i remember when you were “worried” about certain slimy insects, rode around on your scooter and played snes all the time (where have the years gone???) and now your talking about being a stud and the ’s’ word (or something along those lines, my welsh is a bit rusty)
oh dear.
lol! um…I think its something on the lines of mow the lawn rhys! lmao!
Han: No, it’s most definately NOTHING to do with mowing the lawn!
John: I have no shames for my childhood. The SNES was fucking ace, and I was a late bloomer
nAl: The best Welsh swear word is apparently ‘Llandda’, but it means something horrendously rude! Ask Guy or email me for a translation.
Guy: It’s more in schools. There has been a parade and I’ve taken photos. I am wearing my Welsh Rugby Shirt you got me a few years ago to work though
Ryan: There are so many great Welsh words like that! I can’t think of any off the top of my head however (I do love Sboncen and Penmaenmawr). I have edited the post for definitions of them.
Er, um, this isn’t Welsh Rhys… this is all Wenglish or a really bad automated translation, let me help you out…
Un beint o’r cwrw peint o gwrw
Mae Cynghair Cynghrair Pel Droed Cymru ydy yn swbriel
Gae’r hi bronnau fel brynnau Mae ganddi hi fronnau fel bryniau
and that’s just your first three, thge rest are equally nonsensical. Come to think of it, isn’t it sentences not sentances anyway.
Happy St.Davids day Rhys, and all your fellow welsh types!!
I’m now off to tell all my friends to Cachau bant
Thanks for that one!
Kristoff - even if they speak Welsh, they won’t have a clue what you are on about. Cachau isn’t a Welsh word, ‘Cachu’ is, and means Shit. ‘Bant’ is South West Wales dialect meaning away, standard Welsh for the same meaning is ‘i ffwrdd’. In any case it doesn’t mean Fuck Off. The list of welsh swearwords where this phrase is given as a valid one is probably from http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/welsh.htm
which isn’t very accurate. There is a much better, completely correct one here: http://www.clwbmalucachu.co.uk/cheat/cheat_swearing.htm
Haha, SAWGN - I love the phrase “cachu planciau”
Ummm Happy St David’s day is it Boyo ermmm have fun this day you will.
Can I just say that no one has said how great my name for you and Han is. Hanwynne - it’s genius plus it sounds quite Welsh! Whammy!
Rhys, maybe ’shitting bricks’ rather than the too-literal ’shitting planks’ is a better translation. It’s only borderline swearing really, the mild stuff.
I have several “tea towels” with Welsh vocabulary on them, including the #5 sentence, which I actually used to be able to pronounce.
My grandmother and I were watching a soap in Welsh (with subtitles) together a couple of years ago and she asked me if I thought I could learn Welsh. I thought I could if I were immersed in it. I still think about getting a Rosetta course. Not that I’d be able to use it here in the States much, but it would be a fun thing to learn!
Ta!
Thanks for the Welsh lesson. I pretty much knew none of that beforehand.
Dwi’n credu bod rhywun wedi bod yn malu cachu gydag ambell air, ond ar y cyfan mae rhain yn eitha da. Yr unig un y bydden i’n newid yw rhif 3 yn y rhestr i Han - Dwi eisiau priodi Klingon - mae hwn yn hawddach na’r un sy da ti.
Pob hwyl da’r Cymraeg
Ern