Yesterday, I posted about a very brief interaction I had with a stranger as I was walking to the small grocery store--after wishing me good morning, he asked if I'd 'gotten through the Christmas' which struck me as an amusing turn of phrase. I've realized that the post needed more context to explain why I found it amusing and why I didn't think it was an expression of distress about Christmas.
Certainly, there are people for whom Christmas is a dreaded season/holiday in general. I know several people who feel this way. For them, Christmas is indeed an ordeal that they are happy to get through. I have a great deal of empathy for these feelings, because from what I can tell, it's the same thing I experience in advance of every spring and summer. Those feelings will be with me shortly. However, while those who find Christmas difficult will express those feelings to certain people, they would never go around announcing it to people in general. In the same way, I always smile and hide my gloom when people are gushing about 'the grand stretch in the evening' as the days lengthen or as they bounce off the walls and eat ice cream at the sight of a sunbeam. I'm happy to witness their joy and to eat ice cream, but what I'd like to do is crawl into bed and be woken up when September arrives. Bill knows that when I say that the weather is going to be good, he won't like it. We were once having coffee with a good friend and one of his friends. It was cloudy and then the sun came out. Our friend joked with me that the weather was turning against me. The acquaintance was puzzled until our friend explained my intense dislike of sunshine and sunny days. The acquaintance laughed and said I must never say such things in public otherwise they'll call for a straitjacket. So yes, I understand the difficult emotions that Christmas can bring up for people, whether it's a lifelong thing or because of a tremendous and painful loss. I didn't get the impression that this was what the guy yesterday was expressing. Here's why.
Upon our arrival in this country, we quickly learned that although we were all speaking English, and we used the same words, often the combination of words was different and/or what was meant by the words was not the same on both sides. For example, the first time we moved we went to the bank to change branches. We wanted to keep the same bank, but because we were moving to a different area, we thought we'd have to do something to use a different branch. The woman at the bank thought we wanted to close our account. We explained what we meant and she told us that we just had to change our address but do nothing else. The branch where we opened our account will be our home branch until we close it, no matter where in the country we are.
Beyond that kind of misunderstanding, one of the things I've found so fascinating is observing and learning about various linguistic norms that exist here. There is a tendency towards drama and hyperbole both in the words used and the tone in which those words are uttered. Because we're on buses so much, I've had many opportunities to listen to conversations between acquaintances and it struck me early on that whether they're talking about the weather or someone's illness, they tend to use very hyperbolic language delivered in a dramatic fashion. This tendency is also evident in passing comments, such as that made by the guy yesterday. Whenever we are out and about, wherever we are, almost everyone we encounter will communicate in some way. Sometimes it's a nod in greeting, but mostly, it's verbal. They will begin with some version of hello. Sometimes they ask if we're on holiday. For years I thought people were asking me, 'How's the farm?' and I had no idea how to reply. When I mentioned this to a friend, she enlightened me. They're asking, 'How's the form?' and I misheard. 😂 But what comes up most often in these fleeting interactions is the weather. And you might not think that people could be very dramatic and hyperbolic in a passing comment about the weather as they walk past someone on the sidewalk, but I can assure you that they can be quite dramatic indeed.
About a month ago, on a windy, chilly, slightly rainy day--in other words, pretty typical for the west of Ireland in November-- we were coming back from our weekly trip to veg man's stall when we passed someone we'd chatted with while waiting for the bus heading in the opposite direction. We were lugging our bags of produce and she was hurrying in the opposite direction, coat zipped all the way up, hood on and closed tightly around her face. 'Hello!' she said, 'Isn't it terrible? It's HORRIBLE weather! Just HORRIBLE!' Years ago, on a mild but cloudy day, we passed a woman who said hello and then growled about the weather, 'It's a BLACK day.' At the opposite end of the weather commentary, when it gets sunny and warm (by warm I mean around 20c/68f), the word 'scorchio' gets bandied about. I wait for the first scorchio sighting every year. There is giddy commentary when it's warmer here than in Spain (as it was on Christmas, apparently). But then after a few days of scorchio, things take a dramatic turn in the other direction. I've had more than one person express concern to me about the danger the sun and heat poses to children, which is true, but perhaps not quite as dangerous as was expressed. Again, this is not a heat dome with temperatures above 110 degrees. I don't know that it's ever hit 80f in the decade I've been here, at least where I've been. I've done plenty of grumbling myself about the heat anyway, because once we get into the upper 50s, I start to get annoyed. But I do not have the dramatic linguistic flair required to match Irish weather commentary. I do enjoy it, though.
So all that is to say that I took the guy's comment about getting through Christmas in the context of what I've observed and experienced about the communication style used by Irish people in such situations. Like certain other comments and phrases, I thought it was interesting from a cultural linguistic standpoint in the same way I find it interesting that it's common for people to say 'the' Christmas. I didn't think he'd had a miserable Christmas and was happy it was over or that he was concerned that those he was speaking to had experienced anything like that. I took it in the same way I take it when someone asks if I had a nice Christmas or comments on the weather--as a seasonal passing comment that he probably didn't think anything of, but that I found quirky and interesting.
