Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Mar 18, 2003 19:56
21 yrs ago
English term
Irish bull
English
Art/Literary
My sister, a student of English, has been asked to explain the meaning of this Irish Bull (A ludicrously incongruous statement)
"An Irish bull is always pregnant."
I haven't got the faintest idea... Can anyone help?
"An Irish bull is always pregnant."
I haven't got the faintest idea... Can anyone help?
Responses
| 3 +3 | A mixture |
jerrie
|
| 4 +1 | Irish Bull |
Sheila Hardie
|
| 4 | irish bull |
Libero_Lang_Lab
|
| 4 | Poaaible origin... |
John Bowden
|
| 3 | Irish paradox |
Clauwolf
|
Responses
+3
1 hr
Selected
A mixture
The statement in itself is a classic case of 'Irish Bull', an incongruous statement.
It could also be referring to the 'stupidity of the Irish', as in the Englishman, Irishman, Scotman jokes, where the Irish are depicted as more brainless that the 'Essex girl'!
So, an Englishman's bull goes around making the lady bulls pregnant, a Scotsman's bull doesn't make anything pregnant because the Scotsman is too tight (mean) to go to the expense of providing lady cows, or driving him off to stud, but Irishman's bull is always pregnant.
So, total nonsense, stupidity of Irish, historic context of the 'statement'.
It could also be referring to the 'stupidity of the Irish', as in the Englishman, Irishman, Scotman jokes, where the Irish are depicted as more brainless that the 'Essex girl'!
So, an Englishman's bull goes around making the lady bulls pregnant, a Scotsman's bull doesn't make anything pregnant because the Scotsman is too tight (mean) to go to the expense of providing lady cows, or driving him off to stud, but Irishman's bull is always pregnant.
So, total nonsense, stupidity of Irish, historic context of the 'statement'.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Alison Schwitzgebel
8 mins
|
|
Thanks
|
|
| agree |
Tanja Abramovic (X)
7 hrs
|
| agree |
Refugio
: This aspect is certainly in there.
17 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you all!"
+1
5 mins
Sheila Hardie
Spain
Spain
Native in English
&
English
Spain
passion des mots
Native in: English 
Works in: Catalan to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
75
Irish Bull
I found the following explanation.
HTH
Sheila
Irish bull (EYE-rish bul) noun
A ludicrously incongruous statement.
[From Latin bull (to mock, jest, etc).]
The term isn't restricted to the Irish. It existed long before it came to be associated with them. Their association with this expression can be attributed to the long animosity between the English and the Irish.
Here are some prize Irish bulls:
If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive.
-Samuel Goldwyn, movie producer 1882-1974)
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.
-Yogi Berra, baseball player (1925- )
An Irish bull is always pregnant.
-John Pentland Mahaffy, professor (1839-1919)
"The brothers, Jack (Jack Mulcahy), Barry (Burns) and Patrick (Mike
McGlone), are as confused and quirky as characters in a Woody Allen
comedy. Burns can't quite take the same intellectual tack because he's
talking about working-class types, but `The Brothers McMullen' is
nonetheless a knowing look at neuroses that are salved by the fine
art of Irish bull."
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-03-18 20:16:05 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
John Pentland Mahaffy
...The Principles of the Art of Conversation (1887) was reviewed by Wilde; remembered for his witty and malicious conversation, viz., ***‘An Irish bull, Madam, is always pregnant’***; consider Joyce ‘the living embodiment of [his] conviction that the native Irish are unfitted for education’; d. 30 April, in Provost’s House; buried Mount Jerome; there is an oil portrait attributed to Sarah Celia Harrison in the National Gallery of Ireland.
http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/m/Mah...
I think the original phrase was \'An Irish bull, Madam, is always pregnant\"
HTH
Sheila
Irish bull (EYE-rish bul) noun
A ludicrously incongruous statement.
[From Latin bull (to mock, jest, etc).]
The term isn't restricted to the Irish. It existed long before it came to be associated with them. Their association with this expression can be attributed to the long animosity between the English and the Irish.
Here are some prize Irish bulls:
If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive.
-Samuel Goldwyn, movie producer 1882-1974)
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.
-Yogi Berra, baseball player (1925- )
An Irish bull is always pregnant.
-John Pentland Mahaffy, professor (1839-1919)
"The brothers, Jack (Jack Mulcahy), Barry (Burns) and Patrick (Mike
McGlone), are as confused and quirky as characters in a Woody Allen
comedy. Burns can't quite take the same intellectual tack because he's
talking about working-class types, but `The Brothers McMullen' is
nonetheless a knowing look at neuroses that are salved by the fine
art of Irish bull."
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-03-18 20:16:05 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
John Pentland Mahaffy
...The Principles of the Art of Conversation (1887) was reviewed by Wilde; remembered for his witty and malicious conversation, viz., ***‘An Irish bull, Madam, is always pregnant’***; consider Joyce ‘the living embodiment of [his] conviction that the native Irish are unfitted for education’; d. 30 April, in Provost’s House; buried Mount Jerome; there is an oil portrait attributed to Sarah Celia Harrison in the National Gallery of Ireland.
http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/m/Mah...
I think the original phrase was \'An Irish bull, Madam, is always pregnant\"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Ino66 (X)
25 mins
|
|
thanks:-)
|
7 mins
Libero_Lang_Lab
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
United Kingdom
The sports specialists
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
137
irish bull
it can mean a contradiction in terms. stemming from the term bull/bullshit which obviously means rubbish, and also alluding to the old joke that the Irish are supposed to be stupid/do things backwards.
This being the case, "The Irish bull is always pregnant" is, in fact, an example of Irish bull...
This being the case, "The Irish bull is always pregnant" is, in fact, an example of Irish bull...
39 mins
Irish paradox
There is a species of paradox known as the Irish Bull, a logically
absurd statement that paradoxically reveals a kind of truth. ...
www.penguin.co.uk/shared/WebDisplay/ 1,,49167_1_10,00.html?cs=10 - 22k - Em cache - Páginas Semelhantes
absurd statement that paradoxically reveals a kind of truth. ...
www.penguin.co.uk/shared/WebDisplay/ 1,,49167_1_10,00.html?cs=10 - 22k - Em cache - Páginas Semelhantes
16 hrs
Poaaible origin...
"The Irish Bull
This type of confused figure of speech became known as an Irish Bull. Dr John Mahaffy (the great 19th Century scholar of Trinity College Dublin) said that 'An Irish Bull is always pregnant'. Irish Bulls can still be spotted occasionally, especially in the speeches of politicians"
This type of confused figure of speech became known as an Irish Bull. Dr John Mahaffy (the great 19th Century scholar of Trinity College Dublin) said that 'An Irish Bull is always pregnant'. Irish Bulls can still be spotted occasionally, especially in the speeches of politicians"
Discussion
"An Irish bull is always pregnant."