Here’s a word to use each New Year’s Day: quaaltagh. It’s pronounced QUAL-tok, and comes from the Isle of Man. It means “the first person to show up at your door on the first day of the year” or “the first person you meet when you leave home on the first of January.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “A New Year’s Word: Quaaltagh”
Grant, I’m already wondering who my QualTalk will be this year.
What’s a QualTalk? This sounds like some financial acronym.
The quarterly QualTalks have come in today and they’re up 4%.
Wall Street’s up 9 points.
First of all, it’s got a weird spelling.
It’s spelled Q-U-A-A-L-T-A-G-H, Qualtach.
Or in some parts of Britain, it’s pronounced Qualtach.
And it comes from Manx.
It comes from the Isle of Man.
And it’s the word for the first person one meets after leaving the house.
So the first person one meets on New Year’s Day.
That’s your Qualtach.
And I believe we’ve talked before about the folklore involved there.
Like if a dark-haired man shows up at your house, that’s supposed to be good luck.
Okay.
Your qual talk.
Okay, nice.
Or tell us about your language findings.
You know you like to dig through old books.
