Ribbing the devil
tony cooper
rib broke in the devil". Never heard it before. Context is:
"Back in the pub, I had to shake myself physically, rid my mind of the
demons. Must have shown on my face as Ridge's eyes softened, a rare
occurrence. She asked,
'Jack, you OK?'
'Jack!'
A rib broke in the devil. I didn't answer and for one mad moment it
seemed like she might reach out and touch me.
'Jack, there've been some changes in Galway,'
I snapped out of the maudlin mode...."
("Ridge" is the English form of the Gaelic female name "Ni Iomaire".)
Unlike Marcus, who is better at this than I am, I can't even provide a
guess as to the meaning of the phrase. The Irish bring the devil
into many of their sayings, but this one's new on me.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Barbara Bailey
news:pfu6p3l2tnl1il15v...@4ax.com:
Is the book by Ken Bruen? Google only provide one citation: in his book
_The Magdalen Martyrs_ on page 117:
"Gosh, Mr. Taylor, you look so relaxed!"
You betcha.
Even accepted her invitation to breakfast. Now that is a rib broke in
the devil.
The chambermaid, housekeeper, cleaner, Janet, was also the waitress,
albeit a slow one. I strongly suspected she might ..."
But I can't begin to guess at the meaning either?
Frances Kemmish
I found this passage, with "rib broken in the devil", from a journal
called "The Bookman" published in 1903:
"In Donegal one holds in high honour the robin redbreast, who, when the
soldiers came in search of him, lay on every drop of blood that marked
his track! But an outcast is the wren, and every one killed is a rib
broken in the devil for the rude trick it once played on great "Sent
Calmoille" a matter of two thousand years ago!"
It seems to mean something like "a blow struck against the devil".
Fran
tony cooper
Yes. Ken Bruen's _Priest_. I haven't read _The Magdalen Martyrs_.
Without checking it out, I suspect it's about the Magdalen laundries;
one of the most shameful practices in Ireland in recent years, and
another blot on the history of the Catholic Church.
"Magdalen" is also spelled "Magdalene" and changes by reference.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Unlike Marcus, who is better at this than I am, I can't even provide a
>guess as to the meaning of the phrase.
<polite attention-getting cough>
Perhaps you mean Marius.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Jonathan Morton
news:kh47p395j9u3h0dl0...@4ax.com...
>
> "Magdalen" is also spelled "Magdalene"...
Depending on whether they are Oxford martyrs or Cambridge ones.
Regards
Jonathan
Barbara Bailey
> Barbara Bailey wrote:
>>Is the book by Ken Bruen? Google only provide one citation: in his book
>>_The Magdalen Martyrs_ on page 117:
>>But I can't begin to guess at the meaning either.
>>
>
> Yes. Ken Bruen's _Priest_. I haven't read _The Magdalen Martyrs_.
> Without checking it out, I suspect it's about the Magdalen laundries;
> one of the most shameful practices in Ireland in recent years, and
> another blot on the history of the Catholic Church.
>
> "Magdalen" is also spelled "Magdalene" and changes by reference.
It -is- about the Magdalen Houses. Or rather, about the search for a woman
who had helped one of the main character's mother escape from one years
before the bok is set.
Maria C.
> tony cooper wrote:
>
>> Unlike Marcus, who is better at this than I am, I can't
>> even provide
>> a guess as to the meaning of the phrase.
>
> <polite attention-getting cough>
>
> Perhaps you mean Marius.
Yes. It's been a long time since Marcus (or was it
"Markus"?) was around.
Maria
Jeffrey Turner
Seventeen and a half hours after this post in the "Were cleverer than
ever he should be" thread.
--Jeff
--
We know now that Government by
organized money is just as dangerous
as Government by organized mob.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
Bob Cunningham
I suspect you're thinking of Markus Laker, a highly
respected AUE poster of yore, but there has been a Marcus
here lately.
Years ago it seemed like just about every Tom, Dick, and
Harry in this newsgroup was named Mark or Markus.
Maria C.
> Maria C. said:
>> Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote:
>>> tony cooper wrote:
>>>
>>>> Unlike Marcus, who is better at this than I am, I can't
>>>> even provide
>>>> a guess as to the meaning of the phrase.
>>>
>>> <polite attention-getting cough>
>>>
>>> Perhaps you mean Marius.
>>
>> Yes. It's been a long time since Marcus (or was it
>> "Markus"?) was around.
>
> I suspect you're thinking of Markus Laker,
I was.
> ...a highly
> respected AUE poster of yore, but there has been a Marcus
> here lately.
>
> Years ago it seemed like just about every Tom, Dick, and
> Harry in this newsgroup was named Mark or Markus.
Lots of good names start with "Mar" methinks. <smile>
Maria Conlon
Richard Bollard
<fkem...@optonline.net> wrote:
[...]
>
>"In Donegal one holds in high honour the robin redbreast, who, when the
>soldiers came in search of him, lay on every drop of blood that marked
>his track! But an outcast is the wren, and every one killed is a rib
>broken in the devil for the rude trick it once played on great "Sent
>Calmoille" a matter of two thousand years ago!"
>
>It seems to mean something like "a blow struck against the devil".
>
My mother used to have a stock phrase "tell the truth and shame the
devil".
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia
To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT.
tony cooper
<rich...@spamt.edu.au> wrote:
>On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:05:18 -0500, Frances Kemmish
><fkem...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>Reading a book (fiction) set in Ireland, I came across the phrase "A
>rib broke in the devil". Never heard it before. Context is:
>"Back in the pub, I had to shake myself physically, rid my mind of the
>demons. Must have shown on my face as Ridge's eyes softened, a rare
>occurrence. She asked,
>'Jack, you OK?'
>'Jack!'
>A rib broke in the devil. I didn't answer and for one mad moment it
>seemed like she might reach out and touch me.
>'Jack, there've been some changes in Galway,'
>>It seems to mean something like "a blow struck against the devil".
>>
>
>My mother used to have a stock phrase "tell the truth and shame the
>devil".
Not much interest in this phrase, but the author - near the end of the
book - wrote: "In Ireland, when an event of astonishing proportion
occurs, we say, 'There must be a rib broke in the Devil'."