sleiveen

WOTD – 17 March 2010    

English

Alternative forms

• sleeveen

Etymology

From Irish slíghbhín, slíbhín, with the same meaning.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsliːviːn/

Noun

sleiveen (plural sleiveens)

1. (Ireland, Newfoundland) A dishonest person; a trickster.
   • 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 (fi)
• French: escroc (fr), filou (fr), aigrefin (fr), fripon (fr), larron (fr), chevalier d'industrie (fr), tricheur (fr)
• Irish: slíghbhín (ga), slíbhín (ga)
• Italian: truffatore (it), mariolo (it), farabutto (it), imbroglione (it), sbarazzino (it), birichino (it)

• Russian: обманщик (ru) m (obmanščik)
• Spanish: ratero (es), timador (es), petardista (es), estafador (es), caballero de industria (es), pícaro (es), bribón (es), tunante (es), truhán (es), taimado (es)