Hi Listers -- I find "Och" in Irish poety and literature - about a million of them in Frank McCourt's biography "Angela Ashes" alone! They invariably begin a sentence. Have been wondering for some time if it is an Irish way of emphatically saying "Oh," or not? Specific to a particular section of Ireland or time period? Anyone with relatives that began sentences in this way? How did it actually sound? Jean, Spokane, WA.

Hi Jean, "Och" is an English phonetic attempt at the Irish word "Ach" which literally means "But". Example - "Ach bhí tú ansin freisin!" = "But you were there too!" Usage is all over Ireland, all time periods, including right now in dramatically increasing numbers. My poor attempt at phonetics for it would be AHKH. Hope that's helpful, Jerry Kelly NA GAEIL MAGAZINE (coming soon to an internet near you) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean Rice" <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 4:43 PM Subject: [Irish-American] Question - "Och" - Irish Expression???? > Hi Listers -- I find "Och" in Irish poety and literature - about a million of them in Frank McCourt's biography "Angela Ashes" alone! They invariably begin a sentence. Have been wondering for some time if it is an Irish way of emphatically saying "Oh," or not? Specific to a particular section of Ireland or time period? Anyone with relatives that began sentences in this way? How did it actually sound? Jean, Spokane, WA. > > > ==== IRISH-AMERICAN Mailing List ==== > The IRISH-AMERICAN Mailing List Website and Lookup Service > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > Use this to unsub, change your subscription, links, etc. >