I was reminded of the tale of an English property developer in Galway during the recent boom, frustrated at the interminable delays and prevarications of his Irish contractor. With heavy sarcasm he asked the firm's director whether 'mañana' was a word well understood by his workforce. The straight-faced reply came 'No. There's no word in the Gaelic that implies quite the same degree of urgency.'
2 comments:
The Arabs have a similar expression which transliterates roughly as: Bukra fil mish-mish and translates as "Tomorrow in the apricot season!.
Arabs will tell you that it is "like manana, but without the same urgency".
(sorry, don't know how to get the squiggle over the 'n')
Saw this post and,as a good Cornishman, I thought I would get round to round to replying dreckly.
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