# Welsh: Good morning, my dears



## gazrj01

Hello everyone!

I am an author, writing a book at the moment, which is set in Britain during WW2. I have no Welsh, and don't want to depend on an on-line translator. Could some kind Welsh person please let me know if what I have written (in red) is colloquial and correct?

_I had been on the point of doing just that, as I was the son of a farmer, as was my Uncle Otto, my own father, and their father before them. The idyll of the jolly, rustic crofter was an illusion for city folk. My Shorty was just one of those people.

"Whose bicycle is this?" he asked, as we stood at the front door after knocking.

"No idea," I replied. Something flickered in the back of my brain.

"Bore da, cariadon. Croeso!" Dilys Williams said, throwing open the door, and then pulling us both into her arms.

"Bore da," Shorty mumbled back to her, as he kissed her.

"Good morning, Dilys," I said, smiling at Shorty's Welsh, "and thank you for the welcome."

"Come in; come in," she said, ushering us into her large, family-sized kitchen. "Tea has just been made."_


Thank you very much.

Gazrj​


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## Tegs

Hi Gazr,

_Cariadon _means "lovers", so it wouldn't work in your context as a term of endearment in a greeting. Only the singular, _cariad _("love") works as a term of endearment, and it wouldn't work here as she's talking to two people. Given that the two people she is greeting are boys/men, I'd suggest something like:

Bore da 'mechgyn gwyn i!  This translates to something like "good morning my dears/my lovely boys". This is specific to talking to boys/men, and something an older lady would say to two kids/ young men that she dotes on. It seems apt to me for the period in question as it's slightly old-fashioned. You need to include the apostrophe as that shows there is a missing word (and the word is deliberately missing to make it sound informal).

Another less older lady-ish and less old-fashioned option which might be useful if this Dilys character is around the same age as the boys she's addressing:
Bore da hogia! = informal way of saying "good morning boys" in north Welsh dialect (so if you use this make sure that this character is not from the southern part of the country)


There are far more endearments for greeting one boy, there are fewer options for talking to more than one, but hopefully either of these will do the trick.

"Croeso" meaning welcome, is fine.


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## Stoggler

Tegs said:


> Bore da 'mechgyn gwyn i!



Forgive my intruding, as I can't add anything, but does that translate literally to "my white boys"?


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## Tegs

Hi Stoggler, yes, it does, but it refers to hair colour, rather than skin colour. It's the same as the English expression "white-haired boy" (in case you aren't familiar with it - White-haired boy | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary)


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## Stoggler

Tegs said:


> Hi Stoggler, yes, it does, but it refers to hair colour, rather than skin colour. It's the same as the English expression "white-haired boy" (in case you aren't familiar with it - White-haired boy | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary)



Thanks Tegs - makes sense now.


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## gazrj01

Thank you very much! I am sure my dialogue will be enhanced, should a Welsh reader buy my book!

And yes, Dilys is an older woman...so your translation sounds perfect.

My grandmother was Welsh, and she used to say (in English) "Come in, my lovelies!" So, from what you have read, this is very much of the same flavour!

cheers


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## Tegs

Great, I'm glad that helped! I already got an older lady vibe so that came across well  It's nice to read an English book and stumble upon a Welsh phrase unexpectedly. You never know who'll be reading it  Thanks for taking the time to check it before you put pen to paper, because it's always disappointing to read something which has clearly not been researched properly!


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## analeeh

Tegs said:


> Hi Gazr,
> 
> _Cariadon _means "lovers", so it wouldn't work in your context as a term of endearment in a greeting. Only the singular, _cariad _("love") works as a term of endearment, and it wouldn't work here as she's talking to two people. Given that the two people she is greeting are boys/men, I'd suggest something like:
> 
> Bore da 'mechgyn gwyn i!  This translates to something like "good morning my dears/my lovely boys". This is specific to talking to boys/men, and something an older lady would say to two kids/ young men that she dotes on. It seems apt to me for the period in question as it's slightly old-fashioned. You need to include the apostrophe as that shows there is a missing word (and the word is deliberately missing to make it sound informal).
> 
> Another less older lady-ish and less old-fashioned option which might be useful if this Dilys character is around the same age as the boys she's addressing:
> Bore da hogia! = informal way of saying "good morning boys" in north Welsh dialect (so if you use this make sure that this character is not from the southern part of the country)
> 
> 
> There are far more endearments for greeting one boy, there are fewer options for talking to more than one, but hopefully either of these will do the trick.
> 
> "Croeso" meaning welcome, is fine.



If she's from an area where they say _hogia_, she'd probably say _bora_ too and not _bore_.

But this is pedantry on my part.


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