Re: [ADS-L] Ath na Long Long Ford of the Ships

[Michael Quinion]

> But, let's be frank, there are people out there who actually
> believe "bootlegger" derives from the practice of stuffing bottles
> in boots, rather than two Irish words that mean a bottle service:
> buidelai gar. It is too funny for television.

I'm among them: see

  <http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-boo1.htm>.

Yours is an intriguing idea. I'm more than prepared to accept that,
in common with other standard sources, I may be wrong about this. And
in recent years we have heard some interesting suggestions about the
impact of Irish, not least a plausible proposal that "didgeridoo",
for the Australian Aboriginal instrument, is in fact from Irish. But
in this case we have first to circumvent the recorded evidence to the
contrary. So do provide the full story behind this tantalising
comment.

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>