Am I the only one who smiled with pride at the President's confident "Yes We Can" in Gaelic?

He said it with a jaunty little bop of his head like he's been speaking Gaelic all of his life.

Our president makes me so proud, in large and small ways . . .

Pennsylvania - who said about Barack Obama - "He's a poet, not a fighter". The Irish can claim poet part of the President. A love of words and language is what they are known for and he certainly has it.:)

And the claim that he's not a fighter has pretty effectively been put to rest - our president is a poet AND a fighter . . .

A good moving speech will move masses, where as a fighter can only go one by one.

It will be fun watching their visit with the Queen too, wonder if Michelle will go in for another hug...:)

I want to hear him say it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfau1j5Gy7w

:)

:hi:

:hi:

he'd say something like 'I love Gaelic, especially in pizza sauce. Gives me heartburn, though.'

Hell-A Liberal and nmbluesky!! Gosh, I love Obama!! He's a rock star/president!!

Good one. And a belated welcome to DU!

:hi:

I was also extremely proud and tried to find the translation right away. This is what someone else said....
Is féidir linn go deimhin
Is féidir linn cinnte
Is féidir linn go siúráilte
... all of these come out more like "we certainly can" or "we can indeed," and all of them are a bit long for chanting, but they're probably as close as you're going to get.

If the slogan were being coined in Irish we'd probably dispense with the "yes" though anyway, to be honest. There isn't one single word for "yes" in Irish, because the answer depends on how the question was formed.

I think I'd really suggest sticking with is féidir linn (= "We can.") Or if it has to be three syllables, you could go with féadaimid (also = "we can", but it's not as common in some of the other dialects.)

Thanks! And welcome to DU! :hi:

make me so very proud!

I'm a jelly donut in Gaelic. Props to JFK.

-Hoot

The man has a gift - he seems to have an innate knowledge of how to make his detractors look like fools while remaining noble. Ie: I'm convinced he waited to release the "long form" until he had the biggest possible "fish" on the hook.

:eyes: