sleiveen

sleiveen

English

WOTD – 17 March 2010

Alternative forms

• sleeveen

Etymology

From Irish slíghbhín, slíbhín, with the same meaning; from sliabh (“mountain”) (hence the implication that the person is rural).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsliːviːn/

Noun

sleiveen (plural sleiveens)

1. (Ireland, Newfoundland) A dishonest person; a trickster, usually from a rural area.
   • 1889, WB Yeats, ‘The Ballad of Father O'Hart’:

     In trust he took John's lands; / Sleiveens were all his race

   • 2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage 2003, p. 298:

     You blackened, filthy sleeveen liar. I curse the living day I ever let you near me.

Translations

dishonest person; trickster

Finnish: koijari (fi), sluibari French: escroc (fr), filou (fr), aigrefin (fr), fripon (fr), larron (fr), chevalier d'industrie (fr), tricheur (fr) Irish: slíghbhín, slíbhín

Italian: truffatore (it), mariolo (it), farabutto (it), imbroglione (it), sbarazzino (it), birichino (it) Russian: обма́нщик (ru) m (obmánščik), обма́нщица (ru) f (obmánščica) Spanish: ratero (es), timador (es), petardista, estafador, caballero de industria, pícaro (es), bribón (es), tunante (es), truhán (es), taimado (es)