Irish Proverb 170 - Seanfhocail Ghaeilge 170

i would have thought that the word "amuigh" would mean out. so therefore the proverb should translate to "when the cat is out the mice will dance"

what do you thing?

Absolutely right, Lánstad, a chara. I don't know how that one slipped through the net! As you say, amuigh means outside and has no connection with sleeping, so the English is inaccurate. Thanks for the feedback!

Hmmm...by the same token, we use the term "out" in English very frequently to refer to sleeping, for example, "the baby is out like a light."  Certainly the idea of being asleep includes the concept of being "out."  Does that not carry over into Irish?

Dale D

Also, for the sake of rendering idiomatic English, I would think it should read "When the cat's asleep..."

and perhaps to keep things parallel, the last part should read "the mouse is dancing."

If both comments count as two cents (I know it's an American expression), then together these would be my four cents worth....

Dale D

Hi Dale, In English you could certainly use out for asleep, but this doesn't carry over into Irish. In fact, in Irish people usually use "thart" (over or across) for falling asleep and this is reflected in many dialects of English in Ireland, where you might talk about finally managing to get the baby over. Of course, the usual English equivalent of this proverb is "When the cat's away, the mice will play!"