Gàidhlig / English
Bocsa Fir-chlis

Bocsa Fir-chlis

Posted by Shelagh on Thursday 18 June 2015

There are many fascinating new words that are created in different languages to describe new technology – often, these words are much more descriptive than technological words and use sounds or imagery to create an informal description. In Welsh, the word Popty ping is used for a microwave and in Scots, there is a word fernietickle which means ‘freckle.’

In Gaelic, we have an interesting example which appears in the Fieldwork Archive – Bocsa fir-chlis which means ‘radio’, and which was collected in Harris. Fir-chlis literally means ‘merry dancers’ and is one of the Gaelic names for The Northern Lights – in this context, it gives us a lovely image of small things dancing about and sparkling inside the radio – perhaps when static was present.

Fir-chlis is also used to describe static in the poem ‘Inneal Tha Briseadh’ (‘Broken Machine’) in Bàrdachd Dhòmhnaill Alasdair:

“Tha ’m bucas air briseadh,                          
Chan fhaigh mise smid às,                          
Tha dealbh mar fir-chlis air                           
’S chan aithne dhomh chàradh;”                   

(“The box has broken,
I can’t get anything out of it,
There’s a picture like fir-chlis on it
And I can’t fix it;”)

If we take a look at some of the texts in the Corpus, we can see some examples of the usage of fir-chlis, which demonstrates how suitable the word is when describing a radio. In ‘Oran a Rinn am Bàrd’ in Oran le Rob Donn, Rob Donn Mackay uses the simile ‘as fast as the fir-chlis’, and in Caraid nan Gàidheal by the Rev. Norman MacLeod, there is the line ‘The fir-chlis were spinning [the heavens] all the time.’

Are you familiar with any words or phrases similar to bocsa fir-chlis, which give a more descriptive meaning to new technology? If so, let us know through Facebook or Twitter.

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