Patrick Weston Joyce

Name: English as we speak it in Ireland — V. The Devil and his 'Territory'
Author: Patrick Weston Joyce

English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

Summary

“English as we speak it in Ireland — V. The Devil and his 'Territory'”, published in 1910, is a work by Patrick Weston Joyce. It explores elements such as devil, O'Leary and sayings.

Quotes from English as we speak it in Ireland… (Patrick Weston Joyce)

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ The legend does not tell what became of Damer in the end; but such agreements usually wind up (in Ireland) by the sinner tricking Satan out of his bargain.
When a person does an evil deed under cover of some untruthful but plausible justification, or utters a wicked saying under a disguise: that's 'blindfolding the devil in the dark.' The devil is as cute in the dark as in the light: and blindfolding him is useless and foolish: he is only laughing at you. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ Bad as the devil is he has done us some service in Ireland by providing us with a fund of anecdotes and sayings full of drollery and fun. This is all against his own interests; for I remember reading in the works of some good old saint—I think it is St. Liguori—that the devil is always hovering near us watching his opportunity, and that one of the best means of scaring him off is a good honest hearty laugh. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ I'll persecute you to death's door; and for you to be near death is to be near hell—I'll put you so near that you'll smell the fumes of the brimstone.
A usual imprecation when a person who has made himself very unpopular is going away: 'the devil go with him.' One day a fellow was eating his dinner of dry potatoes, and had only one egg half raw for kitchen. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ Those who wish to avoid uttering the plain straight name 'devil' often call him 'the Old Boy,' or 'Old Nick.'
In some of the stories relating to the devil he is represented as a great simpleton and easily imposed upon: in others as clever at everything. In many he gets full credit for his badness, and all his attributes and all his actions are just the reverse of the good agencies of the world; so that his attempts at evil often tend for good, while anything he does for good—or pretending to be for good—turns to evil. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ So also 'the devil bless you' is a bad wish, because the devil's blessing is equivalent to the curse of God; while 'the devil's curse to you' is considered a good wish, for the devil's curse is equal to God's blessing. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ When a person suffers punishment or injury of any kind that is well deserved—gets his deserts for misconduct or culpable mismanagement or excessive foolishness of any kind—we say 'the devil's cure to him,' or 'the devil mend him' (as much as to say in English 'serve him right') ; for if the devil goes to cure or to mend he only makes matters ten times worse. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ After recovering from the gulp, he looked ruefully at the empty shell and blurted out—the devil go with you down!
Many people think—and say it too—that it is an article of belief with Catholics that all Protestants when they die go straight to hell—which is a libel. Yet it is often kept up in joke, as in this and other stories:—The train was skelping away like mad along the main line to hell—for they have railways there now—till at last it pulled up at the junction. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ Don't enter on a lawsuit with a person who has in his hands the power of deciding the case. This would be 'going to law against the devil with the courthouse in hell.'
Jack hates that man and all belonging to him 'as the devil hates holy water.'
Yerra or arrah is an exclamation very much in use in the South: a phonetic representation of the Irish airĕ, meaning take care, look out, look you:—'Yerra Bill why are you in such a hurry?' The old people didn't like our continual use of the word; and in order to deter us we were told that Yerra or Arrah was the name of the devil's mother! ”

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Source: Wikisource

Patrick Weston Joyce, English as we speak it in Ireland… (1910)

“ I have a large farm, with ever so many horses, and a fine baan of cows, and you could hardly count the sheep and pigs. I'd be as happy as the days are long now, James, only for one thing that's often troubling me ”

Patrick Weston Joyce

Summary

Quotes from English as we speak it in Ireland… (Patrick Weston Joyce)

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