The Irish word ciunas or chiúnas means “silence” or “quiet” — a useful thing for teachers to shout when trying to quiet a noisy classroom. Lexicographer Niall Ó Dónaill’s notation on this word includes the lovely example Tá an saol mór faoi chiúnas, or “all the world is hushed.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Ciunas, Quiet”
Here’s another cool borrowing from Irish.
Cunas. C-I-U-N-A-S. Cunas.
Right. It means silence or quiet.
And it’s the kind of thing that a teacher in Ireland might shout in the classroom to get the kids to be quiet.
Cunas! Be quiet!
Cunas!
I’ll get the batter out, which means the stick, the stick that they’ll be behind the knees with.
And one of my dictionaries by Niall O’Donnell, he’s got a lovely little quote in there under the entry for Qunis.
And it’s, to and seal more free Qunis, which means all the world is hushed.
Oh, yeah.
There is this sense of hushing, of refraining from speaking.
Yeah.
To and seal more free Qunis.
Oh, that’s beautiful.
Yeah.
I want you to read more of that.
Pardon my Irish accent.
I did my best.
It sounds lovely.
