This is one of my personal favorite bits of Schadenfreude in the world.
This photo was taken by Karen Reshkin at the 2016 Milwaukee Irish Fest, and depicts a somewhat Irish-inspired riff on the standard Blue Lives Matter fascist fashion chic. Except no one explained to this idiot cop how translations work, especially when it comes to idioms.
A blogger named the Geeky Gaeilgeoir breaks this hilariously ironic failure with eloquent detail, and a much firmer grasp of the Irish language than I have. But essentially, this mean translated individual word of "Blue Lives Matter" without considering context or grammar. "Gorm" is indeed "blue." But "chónaí" means "lives" with a short "i," as in, "I live here." And "ábhar" means "matter," yes, but in the noun form — like a subject matter, or a material, as opposed to the verb of "mattering."
The syntax is all wrong, too. And that helps with the absurdity. Essentially, this shirt doesn't say anything.
But the real chef-kiss moment is with the word "Blue." "Gorm" is, technically, correct…in a certain context:
When color is used to describe a person in Irish, it typically refers to hair color. For example An bhean rua: The red-haired woman.
There are exceptions, of course: For example, Na fir bhuí (“The orange/yellow men”) is used to refer to members of the Orange Order because of the color of their sashes. But “blue/gorm” would not be used to refer to police officers as a group. That’s an American thing.
All that having been said, though, here’s the lovely, delicious irony: When the word gorm is used in reference to people, guess what it means?
It means “Black.”
What a glorious, glorious self-own.
The Geeky Gaeilgeoir goes way more in-depth with her explanation, and it's especially if you (like me) get a kick of linguistics.
Even Racists get the blues [The Geeky Gaeilgeoir]
