mahogany gaspipe

English

Etymology

A nonsense phrase, to describe what the Irish language sounds like to Anglophones.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

mahogany gaspipe

1. (slang, Ireland, dated) a representation of how the Irish language sounds to a non-speaker; gobbledegook.
   • 1962 June 5, Patrick Byrne, “Committee on Finance. - Vóta 30-Oifig an Aire Oideachais (Atógáil).”, in Dáil Éireann debates, Vol. 195 No. 14 c. 2013:

     It is completely false to suggest that Irish was ever the natural or the native language of this city of Dublin, or of any of our other cities. I always think that Dubliners' attitude to the Irish language is summed up in four words: “Tá sé mahogany gas-pipe”.

   • 1967 October 30, Myles na gCopaleen, “Language Please”, in The Irish Times, page 10:

     "Thaw shay mahogany gas-pipes" is a venerable native witticism. It is the facetious Gaelic sally of a person without Gaelic. Suitably mouthed, it sounds frightfully Irish. Leaguers resent it as a sneer.

   • 1977 July 30, Donal Foley, “The Saturday Column; Buy Irish”, in The Irish Times, page 12:

     "Buy Irish" is a strongly ritualistic tradition ever since the infancy of the Gaelic League whin all Irish islanders wore Irish tweed and according to Myles na Gopaleen had only to say "Mahogany Gas Pipes" at a ceili to be immediately accepted as native Irish speakers.

   • 1993, Colbert Kearney, The Consequence, Blackstaff Press, →ISBN, page 277:

     I've no idea what they're going on about - it's all mahogany gaspipe to me - but next thing Brendan tips me the nod and a wink and gives me to understand that the job is oxo.

   • 2014, Sinéad Sturgeon, Essays on James Clarence Mangan: The Man in the Cloak, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 47:

     The original ‘Italian’ reads ‘Raphèl maí amèche zabí almi’, which Carson renders as ‘Yin twa maghogani gazpaighp boke!’, blending Ulster-Scots and ‘mahogany gaspipe’, the non-Irish-speaker's proverbial idea of what the language sounds like.

Noun

mahogany gaspipe (plural mahogany gaspipes)

1. (slang, Ireland, dated) A Gaeilgeoir.
   • 1956 Brendan Behan, The Quare Fellow Act II (Grove Press (1957) pp. 59-60)

     I’ve been watching you for the last ten minutes and damn the thing you’ve done except yap, yap, yap the whole time. The Chief or the Governor or any of them could have been watching you. They’d have thought it was a bloody mothers’ meeting. What with you and my other bald mahogany gas pipe here.

Usage notes

• Often in the sentence "Tá sé mahogany gaspipe", in which "tá sé" —genuine Irish for "it is" (or "he is")— is sometimes represented by an anglicised phonetic respelling such as "thaw shay".