green ceiling
n.— «In Mexico, I painted, I read and then got the idea that I could be a writer.…Back home, I was going to face what I call the “green ceiling.” It was the attitude among the older generation of Irish that you shouldn’t aspire to anything too “artsy.” The question was always, “Who do you think you are?’ when the idea of being an artist came up.» —“Novelist Hamill still a reporter” by Bob Hoover Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) June 10, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Rowan in Ottawa, Ontario, says her Irish mom used a puzzling word to indicate a sort of restless discontent not caused by anything in particular. It may be neamhchinnte, which means “uncertain” or “indecisive.” This is part...
Diana from Tucson, Arizona, reports that when she was young, her Irish grandmother would chase her and her misbehaving siblings around the house yelling, “You omadhauns!” Also spelled amadán, this word of Celtic origin means...