"Kathleen Mavourneen" meaning in English

See Kathleen Mavourneen in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌkæθliːn məˈvɔːniːn/
Etymology: With reference to a popular Irish ballad, Kathleen Mavourneen, which includes the line “It may be for years, and it may be forever.” Head templates: {{en-noun|?|head=Kathleen Mavourneen}} Kathleen Mavourneen
  1. (attributive) indefinite; which may not have an end for years, if ever Wikipedia link: Kathleen Mavourneen Tags: attributive
    Sense id: en-Kathleen_Mavourneen-en-noun-FH-2E3Bu Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "With reference to a popular Irish ballad, Kathleen Mavourneen, which includes the line “It may be for years, and it may be forever.”",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?",
        "head": "Kathleen Mavourneen"
      },
      "expansion": "Kathleen Mavourneen",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, Chauncey M. Depew, in a speech published in Orations, Addresses and Speeches in 1910 by John Denison Champlin (editor)",
          "text": "There is a sort of loan with which I have been made familiar that might be called a Kathleen Mavourneen loan — it may be for a year and it may be forever, but the promises made by the Huguenots were for a year and were forever and were redeemed every day."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Joseph Furphy, Such is Life: Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins:",
          "text": "And now, thought I, as I recovered Alf's saddle and bridle, heaven grant that that parting may be a Kathleen Mavourneen one; and let me have some other class of difficulty to deal with next time.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952, Debates: Official Report, volume 5, Canada's House of Commons:",
          "text": "[I...] thank the Prime Minister for his remarks, which were very clear; but it does sound very much to me like a Kathleen Mavourneen proposition. The eventual removal will take place, but when is a question that no one can answer as yet. It will be done some time in the future.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1965, Parliamentary Debates of the Western Australia parliament",
          "text": "The Hon. F. R. H. Lavery: That is a Kathleen Mavourneen undertaking.\nThe Hon. A. F. GRIFFITH: It is not.\nThe Hon. F. R. H. Lavery: Past experience has shown that so many things have been promised but have not eventuated."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981, Elsie Locke, Student at the Gates:",
          "text": "[...] and rode to varsity on a bike, which was considered 'infra dig.' for nice girls. Not that she cared about appearances. She earned extra money when she could and in her third year had a ‘Kathleen Mavourneen’ loan arranged through the registrar. ‘Kathleen Mavourneen’? The tag had currency from an Irish song popular at community sings, with the punch line ‘It may be for years and it may be for ever.’ Such a loan was interest-free, but Kath wasn't the sort to leave it for ever.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "indefinite; which may not have an end for years, if ever"
      ],
      "id": "en-Kathleen_Mavourneen-en-noun-FH-2E3Bu",
      "links": [
        [
          "indefinite",
          "indefinite"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(attributive) indefinite; which may not have an end for years, if ever"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Kathleen Mavourneen"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌkæθliːn məˈvɔːniːn/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Kathleen Mavourneen"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "With reference to a popular Irish ballad, Kathleen Mavourneen, which includes the line “It may be for years, and it may be forever.”",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?",
        "head": "Kathleen Mavourneen"
      },
      "expansion": "Kathleen Mavourneen",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, Chauncey M. Depew, in a speech published in Orations, Addresses and Speeches in 1910 by John Denison Champlin (editor)",
          "text": "There is a sort of loan with which I have been made familiar that might be called a Kathleen Mavourneen loan — it may be for a year and it may be forever, but the promises made by the Huguenots were for a year and were forever and were redeemed every day."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Joseph Furphy, Such is Life: Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins:",
          "text": "And now, thought I, as I recovered Alf's saddle and bridle, heaven grant that that parting may be a Kathleen Mavourneen one; and let me have some other class of difficulty to deal with next time.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952, Debates: Official Report, volume 5, Canada's House of Commons:",
          "text": "[I...] thank the Prime Minister for his remarks, which were very clear; but it does sound very much to me like a Kathleen Mavourneen proposition. The eventual removal will take place, but when is a question that no one can answer as yet. It will be done some time in the future.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1965, Parliamentary Debates of the Western Australia parliament",
          "text": "The Hon. F. R. H. Lavery: That is a Kathleen Mavourneen undertaking.\nThe Hon. A. F. GRIFFITH: It is not.\nThe Hon. F. R. H. Lavery: Past experience has shown that so many things have been promised but have not eventuated."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981, Elsie Locke, Student at the Gates:",
          "text": "[...] and rode to varsity on a bike, which was considered 'infra dig.' for nice girls. Not that she cared about appearances. She earned extra money when she could and in her third year had a ‘Kathleen Mavourneen’ loan arranged through the registrar. ‘Kathleen Mavourneen’? The tag had currency from an Irish song popular at community sings, with the punch line ‘It may be for years and it may be for ever.’ Such a loan was interest-free, but Kath wasn't the sort to leave it for ever.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "indefinite; which may not have an end for years, if ever"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "indefinite",
          "indefinite"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(attributive) indefinite; which may not have an end for years, if ever"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Kathleen Mavourneen"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌkæθliːn məˈvɔːniːn/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Kathleen Mavourneen"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (51d164f and fb63907). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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