Is fada le fer bfurnaide.

Is fada le fer bfurnaide.

(is * long * with * man * of waiting)

Times passes slowly when you're waiting for something.

This proverb, quoted in DIL s.v. "furnaide", is found in the Irish Grammatical Tracts edited by Bergin in Ériu in the form "fada le fer bfurnoidhe". Modern versions vary, the fullest being "Is fada le fear fionraí feitheamh." The word "fionraí" is the modern reflex of the Middle Irish "furnaide", with metathesis of 'rn' to 'nr'.