When Tony and I were at the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks back (first visit for us!), I commented that "The only word that can possibly describe this is whatever your language's version of "wow!" is." Of course, Tony asked me how to say "wow!" in Irish, and while I could think of several interjections, I couldn't think of anything that really approximates "wow!"

Have I missed something in my Irish education? What would you say if you were speaking Irish and suddenly saw something amazing or impressive?

Redwolf

Go hiontach! (suggestion)

I'd thought about that, but it doesn't carry the same sort of semi-inarticulate "punch" as "wow."

The closest non-English equivalent I can think of is the Spanish "ai-ai-ai" (spelling approximate)...it doesn't have a meaning in and of itself, but is simply an interjection indicating wonder and (often) disbelief.

Redwolf

I could have said - Ouh là là - but I thought better of it.

If you translate it first into Californian (i.e. "Awesome!"), these possibilities are mentioned in the online FGB:

2 adjective informal very good
iontach adj1
thar cionn
ar fheabhas
as pabhar

but the concrete example given is:

the festival was awesome
bhí an fhéile go hiontach

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

These are a bit longer, but you might like to consider them -

Cumhdach an Athar Shíoraí orainn!
Thar a bhfaca tú riamh!
Ní fhaca mé riamh a leithéid.

And there's OMD, constantly used to express wonder

But only in print...never aloud.

One of the first things that occurred to me was "Dia mo shábháil!"

Redwolf

Go hiontach, as Red has suggested, is more like "Awesome!"

I'd put my bet on:

Ó mhuise !

which can be shortened to Ó 'se ! or just plain Ó†.

These are all translated as "Oh, my !" in Dinneen.


Dála an scéil, OMD = Ó mo Dhia* sounds like a bit of Béarlachas to me. In Irish, "Oh, my God" would be Ó, a Dhia ó ! or just Ó, a Dhia !


†(This just happens to be the same as the exclamation the Japanese would make in the same situation, and no doubt in umpteen other languages around the world.)

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[hr]Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher[/hr]
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).