Post by m***@gmail.comPost by Flying TortoisePost by m***@gmail.comAre you asking us or telling us? If you're asking us, the answer is
"Yes, the expression "smashing!" as an exclamation of approval is
almost certainly a malapropism for the Gaelic expression "Is math sin!"
meaning "it's good!" "
Almost certainly? A less convincing etymology one cannot imagine,
especially as the use dates from early 20th Century USA, coming to
England not via her Northern sister but as part of the increasing
transatlantic traffic of the time.
Nonsense. Show some references, or be considered a troll. Many many
sources give "smashing" as Irish in origin. BBC Northern Ireland gives
"smashing" as a word descended from gaelic, along with "hooligan".
I am unable to find a single scholarly source to agree with this. Your
'many, many' sources, at least as far as the Internet is concerned,
consist of Wikipedia and a number of sites promoting Gaelic. None of
these is peer reviewed and most have good reason to want people to
believe that Gaelic has significantly influenced the English language,
a belief which, sadly, is unsupportable.
The Oxford English Dictionary has no etymological explanation for this
use, nor does it need it, as it is a very obvious extension of the
original meaning and comparable with the use in England of 'cracking'
and a number of other 'violent' words as an adjective for something
with an unusually great positive impact, (is a hit, goes down a smash
etc.) It dates its earliest use to the 2nd decade of the 20th Century.
This kind of (at first sight) plausible but entirely false folk
etymology is extremely common, so much so that many a tome has been
written on the subject (search folk etymology at Amazon); proof, if
proof were needed, that it is not wise to believe everything you read,
even if its repeated a thousand times, especially on the Internet!