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16 October 2014
Ysbyty BrynaberCatchphrase

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Ysbyty Brynaber

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BBC - Catchphrase - Ysbyty Brynaber - Week 84
Week 84 - Main grammatical points

Agnes storms into the garage to speak with Brian after he threw and brick through the glass door of her house. Brian's at the back of the shop when she first arrives and just as he appears, Chris says 'Ar y gair' which literally means 'on the word' but could be translated as 'speak of the devil' - 'ar y gair'.

Ble mae Hywel? Dydw i ddim wedi ei weld e ers talwm.
Where's Hywel? I haven't seen him for ages.

Dyma fe ar y gair!
Here he is! Speak of the devil!

Another expression this week is 'dweud fy nweud' - literally to say my say - which really means to get something of your chest or to state your opinion.

Mae hi wedi dweud ei dweud
She's had her say

Mae Dafydd wedi dweud ei ddweud
Dafydd has spoken frankly

Dw i eisiau dweud fy nweud
I'd like to get something off my chest.

Agnes has had enough when Brian accuses her of causing him so much pain and turns the tables on him. She reminds him of his numerous affairs and of his relationship with Wendy and his illegitimate daughter Vicky. Brian is lost for words after her tirade and she asks him 'y gwir sy'n lladd, ife?' You would translate this as 'the truth hurts does it'? But literally it means 'the truth kills does it'? 'Lladd' is often used in other contexts where it doesn't mean 'to kill'. In the summer, you often see signs in the countryside 'lladd gwair'. This doesn't mean 'killing' grass of course but 'cutting or mowing grass'. 'Lladd poen' means 'to relieve or deaden pain' and 'lladd ar rywun' means 'to criticise someone'.

We looked at comparatives recently, but remember that the comparative of 'bach' (little or small) is irregular. So that small, smaller, smallest is:

Bach - llai - lleiaf

So when Brian says he doesn't have change for Michelle, he says, 'does gen i ddim llai na deg punt' - I don't have anything less than £10.

We hear lleiaf (smallest) on a regular basis in the expression 'o leiaf' - at least.

O leiaf mae'r tywydd yn braf.
At least the weather's fine.

Mae e o leiaf ugain mlynedd yn hÅ·n na hi!He's at least 20 years older than her!

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