The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic

The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic is a no-frills phrasebook for swearing, sexual, offensive, and naughty language in Scots Gaelic. Originally released in 2014, this reformatting and re-release by Nimbus is 46 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.

My understanding (very very rudimentary) of any sort of Gaelic was limited to my exposure to my grandparents as a child. English was the norm for me growing up, and Gaelic only used when they were discussing things I ought not to understand, or when they were annoyed and swearing. This of course made it endlessly fascinating to me and I would parrot everything I could, despite not understanding what I was saying. Great fun for a 5 year old.

This is a humorous booklet of handy phrases and words, many of them culled from historical references, so of somewhat dubious usefulness in today's world. There is an extensive bibliography provided (circa 10% of the book's page content), which will give the enthusiastic student linguist many further reading resources.

There are people who love to shock foreign language speakers by learning a few naughty phrases in a few languages to sprinkle into conversational voids with native speakers. This book would have very limited usefulness for those readers because 1)there's no pronunciation guide (and honestly, written pronunciation guides for Gaelic of any family are frustratingly useless), and 2) one is not terribly likely to find random native speakers of Scots Gaelic 'in the wild' so to speak. This book is, on the other hand, a really interesting resource for linguists interested in the cultural nuances to be found influencing language, especially in a historical context. The chapter on sexual innuendo has a nifty expostulary paragraph or three on the influence of the church (post 5th century A.D.) on sexual language and expression in writing and ballad.

The illustrations by Arden Powell are a nice touch. They're bold Celtic chromatic line drawings which go along with the text.

Four stars for lovers of linguistics, fewer stars for tourists who just want to test the limits of hospitality when they're backpacking in Scotland.

A humorous little guide book to cursing, sex, drinking etc in Gaelic. Nothing too fancy in here but as a guide I don’t expect it to be fancy. Well structured, informative and fun, will create a talking point if your reading for fun or for interest in the Gaelic language. Enjoyable 


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The insults in this collection are scathing, original and memorable.  Would probably be a fun companion gift for someone who decided to learn Gaelic.

With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a fun and humorous book to read. Very entertaining and it will make you laugh. This might be a good gift idea for those who like Gaelic.

Ever traveled to a new country with a little language reference guide that houses inoffensive phrases like "Where is the library?" or "I'll have the spaghetti please?" The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic is NOT that book, unless you're excited by the idea of angering Highlanders. It's a humorous little guide, chock full of offensive, crude, and downright bizarre curses, swears, and phrases. 

While the lack of a pronunciation guide is a letdown for people who have no Gaelic exposure, it's worth it just for the laugh out loud expressions. Recommended for Caledophiles or people versed in Gaelic who want to introduce a little variety. 

***I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Nimbus Publishing.***

Well well well.  I am having LOTS of fun butchering the Gaelic language while trying to impress my friends and family with my knowledge.  Those pesky bad drivers, those not so nice neighbors and those less than stellar government tax agents have all, without their even knowing, been "cursed" through my new found Gaelic knowledge.  Aaaah the benefits of be "bilingual!"  lol

This was such a fun book to read and trying to get the guttural tone was extra good for getting the front of my blouse wet with spittle enough to wash and wear!

The illustrations were interesting and added to the enjoyment of the page turning in this book.

I give The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic a huge thumbs up.

A fun book to read but I was hoping there would be some advice on how to pronounce the words in Gaelic. I loved the poems that were included though.