Níor dheineas ‘aistríu’ ar an bhfocal ‘blog’. ‘Sé an focal céanna é atá in úsáid agamsa. Cad eile a dhéanfá? Níl focal in aon teanga a dhéanfadh cur síos cruinn ar ‘blog’ - sin í an chúis gur cumadh focal nua sa Bhéarla. Níor dheineas ach an litriú a athrú chun go mbeadh an fhobhraíocht chéanna ar an bhfocal sa Ghaeilge. Tá blagadóirí Gaeilge eile a úsáideann an litriú Béarla - ach nuair a chímse ‘-OG’ sa Ghaeilge, tuigtear dom go bhfuil an fhuaim “-UG” aige, mar atá in ‘BOG’, ‘CLOG’ agus ‘DROGALL’. Ní h-amhlaidh atá le ‘BLAG’. Tuigeann an léitheóir Gaeilge láithreach go bhfuil an fhuaim chéanna ag ‘BLAG’ agus ‘DOG’ an Bhéarla (Canis lupus familiaris).

I appreciate that you are concerned about what you perceive as language pollution - but I suggest that your concerns are misplaced. The only way to guarantee the ‘purity’ of a language is to stop speaking it in everyday discourse. Conversely, the most successful modern languages are those which have had no qualms about borrowing from others as they have expanded into new areas of interest as well as new areas of the globe. The purest language of all is Latin, and most ‘bastardised’ language of modern times is also the most successful: English. Modern English inherits as much French as it does Old English - and it has not been fussy about where it picked up vocaubulary along the way. Linguists believe this has given the language the power to adapt flexibly to new requirements, and that this is one of the reasons for its success. See also http://www.economist.com/diversions/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1489147, and http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/01origin/tree.html

If you’re gonna do it, might as well do it right!

The attitude that someone cannot criticise the bastardisation of a language unless they do it in that native tongue is pretty lame.

The attitude that the only thing wrong with the Irish language is that people aren’t bothered to speak it is also lame.

The Icelanders defend their language with fanatical zeal and do not allow foreign words to creep into their language. If a new thing comes out like a Blog or a Mobile phone they consult a big book of old unused words and take an appropriate word from there. Like a telephone in icelandic is formed from two old words meaning to speak with a piece of string while a mobile phone is speaking with a short string.

Better than taking an english word and making it sound irish by adding a fada.

The only thing “wrong with the Irish language at the moment” is the number of people who don’t bother to speak it themselves, but rather choose to lecture those who do, telling us - in English of course - how we’re “doing it wrong”.