how to say take it easy in irish

We all need to take things easy from time to time, though we may not realise it ourselves. If you think a friend or family member needs to slow down or have a rest, here’s how to tell them to do so in Irish!

Tóg go bog é /Tohg guh bug ay/ Take it easy .

Here we have the verb tóg /tohg/ (‘to take’) in the imperative mood, second-person singular. So this sentence this is an order, like ‘have a cup of tea’ or ‘take a load off’.

go bog /guh bug/ means ‘softly’ or ‘gently’.

é /ay/ is simply the singular masculine pronoun meaning, in this case, ‘it’ (though it means ‘him’ when used in reference to a male person).

We could also say Tóg go réidh é /Tohg guh rayg ay/ (‘take it easy’).

In the Connaught and Ulster dialects this adjective réidh is pronounced /ray/.

Apart form being used when generally encouraging someone to ‘take it easy’, these two little expressions can be used in various other contexts.

If someone were heading out to the pub and you wanted to tell them not to drink too much porter (a type of beer that is well-hopped and dark in appearance) you might say “tóg go bog é ar an bpórtar anocht“ /tohg guh bug ay air un bor-thur anukht/ (‘take it easy on the porter tonight’).

Alternatively, if you were the passenger in a car and the driver was unfamiliar with the road and happened to be approaching a dangerous corner you might exclaim “tóg go réidh é ar an gcúinne” /tohg guh rayg ay air un goo-in-nyeh/ (‘take it easy on the corner’). 

Should you simply want to tell someone to have a rest you would say “lig do scíth” /lig duh shkee/ (‘rest yourself “).

This can also be said tóg do scíth /tohg duh shkee/.