Hacker News Reader

And yet, so few of us Yanks speak it well. Nothing like hearing English spoken in Ireland.

Are you talking about the Irish language? Very few Irish people speak it well. Less than 2% use it daily.

I think GP is saying the Irish speak and write a more beautiful or clever English, the language adopted from their conquerors, than in the USA, or perhaps even England.

Correct, thank you.

I said “Nothing like hearing English spoken in Ireland” and wasn’t talking about Gaelic. The rich way they use English and the accent are spectacular

I misinterpreted "Nothing like hearing English..." as a comment on the fact that the indigenous language is no longer spoken very much. Just a bias of mine.

Btw "Gaelic" alone typically refers to either the language family - Scottish, Irish, and Manx - or specifically to Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic, in English, is simply referred to as "Irish" or "the Irish language". And it's largely the source of the way the Irish use English.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com