Ná déan nós agus ná bris nós
- Ná dein nós agus ná bris nósMunster
Written for English speakers and editorial rather than sourced. It will get you close enough to be understood, and it is not a substitute for a native speaker. Recorded audio is planned; see About.
When to use it Wry counsel for the traditionalist in your life. Or the reformer who needs warning.
About this saying
Attested twice over, a century apart in register: Ó Dónaill prints it as the dictionary proverb (neither make nor break a custom) and a Kerry schoolteacher of the 1930s recorded the Munster form in the Schools’ Collection, in passing, as the reason local weddings never happened until Lent was over. The dictionary preserves the wording; the manuscript catches the proverb actually governing behaviour, which is the rarer thing to see.
Provenance
Where this wording comes from. We publish nothing we cannot point at.
- DictionaryÓ Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (1977)s.v. nós, printed "Ná déan ~ agus ná bris ~" glossed "neither make nor break a custom"
- Folklore archiveNational Folklore Collection: duchas.ieThe Schools' CollectionCBÉS 0464:256, Lansdowne (Cuas na gCoileach) school, Co. Kerry: "...on the principle ná dein nós agus ná bris nós"