I had the enormous pleasure of sitting at a tressle table in a hall today, notionally in order to field questions from high school English teachers interested in how we can help them hone their skills as lit-critters, but in fact in order to get some of the free food. My favourite question (betwixt morsels) was: "Does your English department offer Gaelic?" Indeed we do, Sir. Amongst our fourteen full-time academic staff there just so happen to be no fewer than seven specialists in regional variants of Irish Gaelic, three of them fluent in Scots Gaelic, and one the author of a doctoral dissertation modestly titled "Rodents and Rowboats: forces for change amongst the Gaelic vowels of the Outer Hebrides". (Now that, lemmings and gerbilmen, is a thesis waiting to happen. You betcha.)
Relevance of title? None. So how about I type it again? It's all Geek to me. Oh yes it is.
6 comments:
Of course you were sitting - it would have been painful to stand up with your hair caught up in the table.
Or did you mean a trestle table?
Did you hear about the chap whose rowing boat sprang a leak in Stornoway harbour? Excitedly waving to a man on the shore, he cried, "Help, help! I'm sinking".
To which the teuchter on shore replied loudly, "Oh really? And what are you sinking about?".
Your Scots Gaelic-fluent colleagues can explain this to you.
--- An anonymous Scottish Gaelic-speaking geek.
Good point, Anon. I wressle with tressle, especially since I cut my hair.
Do you really speak Gaelic? That's very impressif. I peeked once inside a Gaelic-English dictionary and promptly ran for the hills.
It's said that Mohammed, instead of moving to the mountain, was able to make the mountain move to him. So perhaps, instead of running for the hills, you could have peeked inside a Q'uran? And then the hills would have run for you!
Granted, it would have been a little disturbing seeing all those hills galloping their way across the tectonic plates towards you, causing avalanches, and making all the Richter scales explode, but still...
Q: What does a Gael say when their fellow Gael farts?
A: Is that the Gael, or is that just wind?
Than you, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all night. Don't forget to check in at the food store.
Cecily: The wind's in my hair.
Albert: My wind's in the hair.
Quick, everybody, think three elevating thoughts immediately.
Post a Comment