Hi!

I would like to get "Make every moment count" translated for a tattoo. I previously received a translation for "To making it count" (into: "níl nóiméad le cailleadh," which as I understand it, means "there's not a minute to lose") which is a quote from a movie, but the translation left something to be desired.
I'm trying to get something a little bit closer to the original meaning, so some variation of "Make every moment count" would be preferred. I understand that translating abstract ideas can be challenging, and I appreciate any help that I can receive.

Thank you so much!

Ashley

You were given that translation because it's a stock Irish phrase for what you wanted (it's right out of one of the main Irish dictionaries, in fact). In English, "to make something count" is what's known as an "idiom" -- a way of expressing an idea that may not be entirely logical, but which is part of the language (you do not literally make something "count", in that it does not say to itself "one, two, three, ..." -- the word "count" takes on another meaning in this idiom). It might help to know that the word idiom came into English from the French, where the word is idiotisme, which originally meant just what you might guess from the related English word "idiot" -- something not entirely sensible, maybe even "idiotic".

Idioms often do not translate well literally into another language, and in those cases one has to use whatever in that other language (perhaps one of its own idioms) comes closest to the intent, if not to the precise wording. That's the situation here.

Since virtually everyone in Ireland also (or only) speaks English, English idioms sometimes do get translated directly into Irish and become part of the language, but another Irish speaker might not understand the literal translation the way that the English idiom is understood, and that would probably be true of your expression, if translated literally. It would probably come across to an Irish speaker as something like "force it to count" (i.e. to say "one, two, three ...").

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I completely understand that. So, in other words, "níl nóiméad le cailleadh" is probably the closest Gaelic phrase to my original sentiment?

The best I know, anyway. There are sayings which are somewhat related, such as "seize the day" (from the Latin carpe diem), for which people on this site (and the IGTF forum) usually suggest tapaigh an deis, which literally means "seize the opportunity."

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Thank you! I'm going to have to think about both of those. Do you think you could help me out with the pronunciation of both "tapaigh an deis" and "níl nóiméad le cailleadh"

tapaigh an deis
TUP-(w)een JESH
/tapi:n´ d´es´/

níl nóiméad le cailleadh
NEEL NO-made leh KAWL-yih
/N´i:l No:m´e:d l´e kɑ:L´ə/

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).