I just met an Irish guy named Costello, the fuck? How is that not Italian?

Next your gonna tell me there's an Italian name like "McPattyleanein" or something.

  • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
    ·
    2 months ago

    "Costello", apparently from "Mac Oisdealbhaigh" according to Wiktionary. Oisdealbhaigh itself is from os ("deer") + dealbhach ("in the form of")

    Wait, wouldn't that mean that "Costello" is a descendant of...

    Show Screencap from Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan, or My Deer Friend Nokotan, showing deer-girl Shikanoko Noko with a smile reaching for her antlers. A classroom blackboard is visible in the background. On the left-hand side of the screen we see that a desk is covered in deer crackers. There is a black-haired schoolgirl in the background looking at Shikanoko Noko with apparent bewilderment.

    • Diuretic_Materialism [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      "Costello", apparently from "Mac Oisdealbhaigh"

      Oh yes a totally intuitive anglicization!

          • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
            ·
            2 months ago

            Irish spelling actually makes a lot of sense if you have even a little bit of background in Irish grammar, pronunciation, and language history, but the problem is that most people don't have any background at all in those things, so the letter choices just seem completely arbitrary. It's truly the "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation." of orthography.

          • Staines [they/them]
            ·
            2 months ago

            Gaelic is confusing to English speakers because they expect the letters to have the same sounds. Mhath (good) for example is pronounced "vah"