Feeling at home
A couple in a road near us have called their cottage Ty Bach, little house, a charming reminder of a holiday in Wales perhaps. I don't like to say that when I lived in Wales this was what the locals called an outside toilet.
Sent by: Anne
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Just found out the Welsh for microwave oven ... popty ping ... love it!
Almost as good as smwddio meaning 'to iron'.
Wynne, I think you're mixing twll dyn with twll din. Twll dyn is indeed manhole (twll - hole, dyn - man) where as twll din is a different kind of hole altogether. Granted, when spoken with certain Welsh accents, they sound very similar.
A similar problem is found in highway maintenance where a manhole or Twll dyn is the Welsh in common usage for one's bottom in less than polite terms!
Born in Wales to a non-Welsh speaking family, during my first year learning the language we were told to write an essay on a subject of our choice. I confidently headed mine Ty Bach, only to be told (and not discreetly) that this meant "The Toilet". Unfortunately, I still can't speak my native tongue.
In New Zealand bach is used to denote a rough vacation home at the beach or lake, a kind of "little house" away from the city.
Ty bach is indeed Welsh for 'toilet'. A little house is a ty bychan. Interestingly the surname Vaughan comes from the Welsh vychan, meaning 'little'!
None of this tΓ½ bach stuff. On the LLeyn Peninsula it's cachdy, cachu being you know what.
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