User:Stelio/have a thirst on
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From a literal translation of the Irish tá tart orm (“I'm thirsty”, literally “thirst is on me”).
Verb[edit]
have a thirst on (third-person singular simple present has a thirst on, present participle having a thirst on, simple past and past participle had a thirst on)
- (Ireland, idiomatic) To be thirsty.
- 1922, James Joyce, “Episode 12”, in Ulysses:
- —Arrah, give over your bloody codding, Joe, says I. I’ve a thirst on me I wouldn’t sell for half a crown.
- 1957, Walter Starkie, “Mummers Again and a Ghost Story”, in The Road to Santiago: Pilgrims of St. James, University of California Press, published 1965, page 237:
- Now that you’ve found us it is time to wet our whistle: I’ve a thirst on me that will wait for no man.
- 2009, Allan Cole & Chris Bunch, chapter 34, in The Wars of the Shannons, America Star Books, published 2010, →ISBN:
- Come on, lads! I’ve a thirst on me like Pantagruel, the giant!
Usage notes[edit]
Typically used transitively, with the subject acting also as the object ("You have a thirst on you!"). But can also be used intransitively ("He had a thirst on.").