
12/06/2025
A few people reminded me of this word/expression in a recent post. I heard it used an awful lot in Galway and Mayo over the years and it meant rubbish talk or nonsense.
I have heard it pronounced ‘seafóid’ (sha-foed) but also ‘sha-fogue’. It’s well recorded as an Irish language word but I’ve always been curious about the etymology. We have many ‘Irish’ words that made it into Gaelic via English, French or Norse and I always wondered did this come from ‘chaff’ - the throwaway, useless bit after winnowing or threshing.
Any other counties use it at all?
Text: Michael Fortune