Lockdown Welsh

Welsh General / Questions
#1

Yikes. So, you teach Carol Vorderman a bit of Welsh, and then you’re in trouble - because she does NOT stop having ideas!

Those of you who know how fundamentally lazy I am will be able to imagine my mixed emotions… :wink: :joy:

Welcome to Lockdown Welsh - entirely Carol’s idea - a bunch of lockdown-appropriate sentences on Twitter and YouTube using an off-the-cuff (aka can Aran remember anything he’s just said?) version of the SaySomethingin Method.

I hope some of them make you laugh (and if you can think of any funny or ironically suitable sentences yourself, do please share them in here for me to steal :heart:).

https://twitter.com/aranjones/status/1250420638059118592 to follow on Twitter, or

www.tiny.cc/LockdownWelsh to go straight to YouTube… :slightly_smiling_face:

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#2

That’s a fun exercise, thanks Aran!

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#3

What a great idea!

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#4

She’s very clever! :star2:

Up to 14 sessions on Lockdown Welsh now :slight_smile:

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#5

I love your choice of first Lockdown phrase(s) /micro-topic to translate into Welsh/target language. I’m sure you’ll be inundated with suggestions!

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#6

Have just watched/listened to these - they’re great!

I learned two new words - the northern word for idiot and the word for cauliflower, which for some reason I hadn’t come across before. I think the word for cauliflower might just be my new favourite Welsh word. (And I agree, they’re not the easiest thing to wash.)

By the way, have Welsh language speakers settled on a word for ‘lockdown’ yet? On BBC Cymru Fyw I keep seeing the English in italics. I’ve seen ‘cloi-lawr’ somewhere but that strikes me as rather literal?

Couple of suggestions for useful phrases if you’re planning on doing any future lessons:

  • I can’t wait to go to the pub again

  • I’m glad off-licences are still open

  • One good thing about the lockdown is [there are fewer cars on the roads / more birds in the garden / more time to learn new things / insert benefit of choice]

Hwyl,
P

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#7

Diolch Peter - ooh, some useful ones in there, diolch!

I haven’t heard anything that stays in the mind for lockdown - heard lots of ‘hunan-ynysu’ for self-isolating, which I really like. Well, as a word, more than as an experience… :wink:

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#8

Ha, agree on both fronts about hunan-ynysu! :slight_smile:

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#9

I did a bit more research into the burning issue of “What is the Welsh for ‘lockdown’?” - well, the pubs are closed, and there’s nothing on the telly, so might as well…

It seems the good folk who translate proceedings in the Senedd are using the rather clunky “cyfyngiadau symud” (movement restrictions) - see, for example: https://cofnod.cynulliad.cymru/Plenary/6288#C28546444

I’ve seen “cyfyngiadau” used on its own quite a lot on BBC Cymru Fyw (or, occasionally, “cyfyngiadau ar symud”). Still not very inspiring.

But it seems Golwg360 has plumped for “gwarchae” (‘siege’) - which I think captures the it perfectly and is certainly more imaginative (and elegant) than “cyfyngiadau [ar] symud”. See, for example: https://golwg360.cymru/newyddion/prydain/566475-llywodraeth-prydain-adolygu-gwarchaer-coronafeirws

(At least, I’m assuming that “gwarchae” is intended to convey ‘lockdown’ in these articles.)

So that one gets my vote!

Just thought I’d share that fascinating bit of research…

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#10

Excellent work Peter! :star2:

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#11

Diolch Siaron! :slight_smile:

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#12

Ahhhh, yup, gwarchae is a pretty damned good fit… :slight_smile: People (and entire nations, come to that) can be ‘dan warchae’, and that’s certainly where we are!

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