Tháinig mé ar seo ar http://www.potafocal.com: an t-uafás eolais = a great deal of information

Which came first: 'an awful lot of information' or 'an t-uafás eolais'?

Do other English speaking countries use expressions like 'an awful lot' when describing 'a lot'. It is very common to hear Irish people saying things like, 'You are awful good to help her' meaning 'You are very good to help her' or 'She's awful/awfully nice' meaning 'She's very nice'. It must sound odd to someone who hasn't heard it before.

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We use "awful" or "awfully" in the same sense here, but that's not to say that it didn't come from Irish...after all, the U.S. has had an "awful lot" of Irish immigration!

I also see parallels here with the use (predominately in the North, I think) of "iontach" as an intensifier (since "awful" meant "wondrous/awe-inspiring" before it came to mean "terrible").

Redwolf

No stranger than " wicked" as in wicked good (very good) used mainly in New England here

I've heard expressions like "an awful lot" and "awfully nice" in England and Scotland as well. I think it exists in most dialects of English.

I used to hear "wicked" a lot in London, in the sense that something was really good. In Ireland, we use "deadly" in the same way. "That car is deadly" could mean you really like the car, or it could mean the car is unsafe, depending on how you say it.

Word meanings often change, and a lot of the change comes from adolescent speech, and I suspect that's what happened with "wicked" (which seems to have hit, or perhaps originated in, the US only about 20-25 years ago). I don't know when "awful" changed meaning, but I've read that when Christopher Wren was awarded the contract to build the new St. Paul's Cathedral in London, the person or body awarding him the contract said that he/they did so because Wren's design was "the most contrived, artificial, and awful", and those were all compliments at the time (and no longer are)!

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

'Aweful' in ionad 'awful'? Inspiring awe?

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Yup. That's where "awful" comes from. You'll even see it written "aweful" in some older English texts.

Redwolf

You could also say -

cuimse go deo eolais

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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In England, to me anyway, aweful has always been a bit pompous 'your awfully good' etc I would never have said it myself

In Ireland, 'You're awful good' wouldn't be at all pompous; it'd be very down to earth. But it's 'awful' in that context not the pompous 'awfully' you referred to.

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