Post #1069752
2026-03-30 14:32 UTC
"Without knowing, I had used that thing for which the English reserve a visceral dislike: their language, loaded and aimed by the old enemy."
—Eavan Boland, on using the word "amn't" in a London school at the age of 6 or 7
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #poetry
Replies (2)
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@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot 2026-03-30 14:35
@stancarey In Scottish schools the teachers would come down hard on you if you used a Scots word, as if you'd uttered profanity. I'm curious if the same kind of colonial mindset exists in Irish schools.
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@IanMoore3000@mastodon.ie 2026-03-30 15:20
@stancarey I really can't abide "amn't" and I'm not buying the idea that it is a true Gael's way of striking back at the Brits.