omadhaun
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Irish amadán, introduced into English via literature and political speech.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]omadhaun (plural omadhauns)
- (Ireland) A fool, someone who is out of their senses, simpleton.
- 1906, Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson, A Story of Outback Life:
- […] an Omadhaun is a man who began life with some sense, but lost most of it on his journey.
- 1905 (date written), James Joyce, “Grace”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC:
- "It is supposed — they say, you know — to take place in the depot where they get these thundering big country fellows, omadhauns, you know, to drill."
- 1983, Hugh Kenner, A Colder Eye:
- Tin trumpets some of the omadhauns had brought along to bray with […]
- 1996, Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes:
- "No, you omadhaun. It bites your shoulder, rips it right off."