A month or so ago I decided to attend a lecture at the University of Montana that had the title of “Understanding Brexit.” England’s departure from the European Union had been heavily featured in the various news mediums for several months. It seemed as though the UK had somehow forgotten the issue and now was divided aggressively against itself. It was as if England had suddenly developed an autoimmune disease.

The lecture was sponsored by The Friends of Irish Studies and, since an outfit that has been labeled “The New IRA” had been indicated in some disturbances related to possible changes in the border between the Republic and the six counties that make up the English held Northern Ireland, I was interested in an Irish professor’s take on the situation.

Sadly, the name of the professor and her college escapes me, but I do recall that she came from County Sligo and that she had a charming brogue. In fact, I was so enchanted with her accent that I sat for twenty minutes before it dawned on me that her lecture was leading in a totally different direction from where I’d expected. Then, since I was seated only a few feet from her lectern, it was impossible for me to escape unnoticed.

The charming Irish professor spent an hour and a half explaining how the term “Brexit” was translated into the Irish language.

To be honest, there were some interesting points. Her research at one point involved finding what words were most commonly used in the English news media in the UK and in Ireland. The word “vote” came in as the most common word looking at subjects and verbs. I don’t remember what came in second, but “Trump” came in third just before “Brexit.”

Makes me proud.

The professor also reminded the audience that the term “Irish Goodbye” refers to a person leaving without mentioning to anyone that he/she is leaving or sort of sneaking out of a party without being noticed.

I must admit that I’ve done this on occasion, but, in my case, no one remembered that I’d been in attendance in the first place.

The Irish professor also defined “an English Goodbye” for us. The term describes someone leaving a gathering, but taking a long time to say goodbye and being angry about it.

By the way, the Irish word for Brexit is Breitimeacht.