Colm O'Regan: "Tipping Away – Ireland's Hardest Working Words"
Summary
Comedian and author Colum O'Regan discusses his new book, *Tipping Away: Ireland's Hardest Working Words*, which explores the history and evolution of Irish vocabulary. The conversation covers the importance of preserving local place names and fading rural terms, as well as how words shift in meaning over time. O'Regan shares personal anecdotes about his father's interest in language and encourages listeners to document their own unique words before they are lost.
Topics discussed
Introduction to 'Tipping Away' and the concept
The 'Gallivanting' universe and preserving personal words
Defining 'tipping away' and sorting through family archives
Father's dictionary habits and the value of townlands
The history and utility of Irish place names
The loss of history in modern address systems
Examples of hidden histories in local geography
Ancient Irish words like 'Taoisteer' and power succession
Etymology of 'Gurrier' and other Dublin words
Why curse words survive and the Irish mincing effect
The phonetics of swearing and the loss of farming terms
Shifting meanings of 'courting' and 'doing a line'
Preserving specific farm vocabulary like 'beastings'
Listener questions on 'no fear of them' and 'no harm'
Listener anecdote about Slappar's Lane in Tipperary
How 'Google' has been replaced by 'search it up'
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