At 09:23 -0500 2003-02-05, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> > "It is a curious property of English that 'Up the [ethnonym]' is
>a expression of
>> approval, whereas the same phrase followed by other short words is
>>insulting."
>> --I forget who
>
>It is??? I always thought "Up the Irish!!" was something English scream
>in Belfast.

Common, too. In Irish it corresponds to "Abú!" and is used when
cheering County sports teams. So "Dún abú!" can be rendered in
English as "Up Down!"

I'm not kidding.
--
Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com