Sam Winchester is gadrach!

I follow a couple of Irish language websites. I don’t speak Irish, but I think it’s a fun language, and I want to be able to at least pronounce the signs I see in Irish pubs.

Which is why episode 7 of Season 4 will always be a little painful for me.

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Dean Winchester” was about something they called “the rise of Samhain.” In this episode Samhain was described as a demon, Sam Hain, whose coming would bring the world one step closer to the apocalypse.

Sam Hain? “Hey, Sam, how’s it goin’?”

Ouch.

I know this has been pointed out hundreds of times already, but Samhain was an actually a Gaelic festival. It marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the dark time of the year. It coincided with what we call Halloween.

And it’s pronounced SOW-in.

Every time poor Sam Winchester mentioned “Sam Hain,” I felt bad for Jared Padelecki. I have the impression he’s something of a language buff, and I’m sure it hurt his ears to hear samhain pronounced like some drinking buddy’s name.

But today I found the perfect Irish word to describe Sam: gadhrach.

According to Patrick Dinneen’s Irish / English Dictionary, published in 1904, gadrach is derived from the root word gadhar. Gadhar means “dog.” Someone who is gadhrach is someone who is fond of dogs. It’s pronounced guh-rock, with that “ck” being more like a soft back-of-the-throat sound and a hard English k.

( The “dh” is silent in Irish. See what I mean about Irish being a fun language? Or maybe I mean “maddening.” Both work.)

Sam Winchester is a dog lover. This occasionally causes friction between Sam and big brother Dean, who is not a dog lover. and has rules like “no dogs in the Impala.” (A really stupid rule btw.)

So say it with me, SPN fans:

“Sam Winchester is one gadhrach guy!”

I’ve always described myself as “a dog person.” But I think saying “I’m gadhrach” is a better option. I’m going to go with that from now on.