Bríd Mhór and I were talking about this the other day, and had just decided to ask about it here when the forum went down! So here it goes:

This old tongue twister has been circulating quite a bit on Facebook.

Bhí bean ag Joe
Is bhí banjo ag Joe
Is bhí banjo ag bhean Joe [sic]
B'fhearr go deo Joe ar an mbanjo
Ná bean Joe ar an mbanjo go deo.

Our question is, why is "bean" lenited after "ag" in the third line? "Ag" doesn't usually cause lenition...is it a dialect thing, or a mistake, or a grammar rule we've missed somehow?

Inquiring minds want to know!

GRMMA in advance

Redwolf

It's certainly a mistake.

(a written form of the twisted tongue )

It's the wrong version that's all over Facebook and the internet.

One of the many reasons I'm not a big fan of language programs that poll the internet (such as Google "Trashlate") or rely on crowd-sourcing (such as Duolingo). There's too much bad info floating around out there.

Redwolf

I have a vague feeling that the culprits are here (at the bottom of the page).
I flagged this up at the other place a while ago, when Teifeach was asking for teaching ideas.

www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ga.htm - Irish Tongue Twisters - rabhlóga

- and I also remember asking why rabhlóga meant what it does.