There is a disagreement on OEDILF that you might be able to help us with. CJ wrote a limerick for "acushla," which is short for "cushlamochree." Mrs. Byrne's says that it is Irish for "vein of my heart." Thus CJ's limerick:

Acushla means "darling," you see.
It's a short form of cushlamochree.
It's Irish, to start,
Meaning "vein of my heart."
Odd, yet touching, I'm sure you'll agree.

The question is whether "acushla" really means "vein of my heart;" others say that it literally means "O Pulse" or O Heartbeat." Clearly the latter 2 seem more accurate than "vein." Mrs. Byrne has been wrong before ("epicaricacy" perhaps; "nelipot" probably), but the online OED also says: [f. Ir. a O + cuisle vein, pulse (of the heart); cf. Ir. cuisle mo chroidhe, my heart's pulse, my darling.]

Any ideas? Do you think "vein" is correct? Some on OEDILF think that "vein" is just a poor translation.

quote:

Any ideas? Do you think "vein" is correct? Some on OEDILF think that "vein" is just a poor translation.

I once read that it means "heart of my heart".

Answers.com says it means "beat of my heart".

A Few Notes on the Word "Cushlamochree" gives some more insights into the meaning of Acushla.

Page 26 of this site gives another couple of meanings of acushla and also gives the Irish spelling (cuisle mo chroidne) of Cushlamochree.

According to McBains, Irish Gaelic cuisle is "pulse, vein, pipe".

http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb12.html

Wow - that was a long time ago. I hardly remember Dianthus.