Hiberno-English Lexicon

jimi_t

I'd be shocked if none of you had seen this before, but for pure entertainment value it's a nice way of introducing people to "pop" etymology/linguistics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English

# Nohjis - Twisted version of odious. Often used with the word 'fierce. 'The craic last night was nohjis fierce'. Common in Cavan.
# Keeping sketch describes keeping a lookout for teachers, gardaí, parents etc. "Sketch!" is shouted if someone is coming. The term may derive from the Irish sceith meaning "to inform on".
# Gob****e refers to a fool, someone who talks nonsense, or sometimes someone who is gullible.
# Gombeen originally referred to a usurer (from the Irish gaimbín, diminutive of "lump"), but now refers to any underhand or corrupt activity.# Handy has more meanings in Hiberno-Irish than just "useful": it usually also means "great", "terrific". It is also used to describe a person's skill at a particular task; "Paul is pretty handy with a golf club" meaning "Paul is a good golfer".
# Head-the-ball Dublin. A nutcase. From 'Hae'ball king of the beggars', a famous character in Dublin c.1760.
# Hiace (as in Toyota Hiace) is used by many to refer to any light commercial van, much like "Transit" or "Transit van" (as in Ford Transit) in the UK.
# Hoor - meaning whore. 'She's an awful wee hoor so she is!' Also means "rogue" or "scoundrel" (as in "cute hoor") - often affectionately rather than pejoratively. Possibly from hougher, a hamstringer.[citation needed]
# Jackeen - A derogatory countryman's name for a Dubliner. From the small British union flags ('union jacks')waved by thousands for royal visits up to 1910.
# Jacks : toilet, usually in a pub or similar. As in "mind my handbag while I go to the jacks". From 16th century English "Jakes". (mind means "look after") the words Bog and Loo are also used.
# Janey Mac! is an exclamation of amazement or frustration in Dublin. It comes from an old children's rhyme: "Janey Mac, me shirt is black, what'll I do for Sunday?/Go to bed, cover your head and don't get up til Monday!"
# Jaykers - A euphemism for Jesus; used as expression of amazement.
# Jaysis - See Jaykers. Often used in the sentence 'Sweet Be-Jaysis'. Common in rural areas.

hullaballoo

I'm not sure how much faith I'd put in the accuracy of some of those definitions, but an interesting read alright.

Faith

I told my (British) friend to keep sketch the other day, and she looked at me like I had two heads.

Jenb

Interesting!

flogen

Faith wrote:

I told my (British) friend to keep sketch the other day, and she looked at me like I had two heads.

that's nothing; when I was living in England I realised they didn't use the word 'press' to describe a place you keep things in (as in 'the plates are in the press')... English people I spoke to would look at me wierd if I used that term, they prefer the word 'cupboard', which is stupid and long.

There were also a multitude of ice-creams they'd never heard of (like Freaky Foots, Loop the Loops etc.), which was kind of sad.

Kwekubo

Professor Terry Dolan (of the NewsTalk etymology podcast) is building a very detailed dictionary of Hiberno-Irish at http://www.hiberno-english.com/, sort of like an online version of his dictionary of HE.

_blank_

flogen wrote:

that's nothing; when I was living in England I realised they didn't use the word 'press' to describe a place you keep things in (as in 'the plates are in the press')... English people I spoke to would look at me wierd if I used that term, they prefer the word 'cupboard', which is stupid and long.

Jaysis, I hated that.

I use most of the words in the OP on a regular basis, apart from Nohjis. It looks like the name of a Native American tribe.

Faith

flogen wrote:

that's nothing; when I was living in England I realised they didn't use the word 'press' to describe a place you keep things in (as in 'the plates are in the press')... English people I spoke to would look at me wierd if I used that term, they prefer the word 'cupboard', which is stupid and long.

I tested this out yesterday and asked my English friends if they knew what I meant when I said "Take the cup out of the press". One of them valiently replied "Yeah, you mean take it out of the hotpress!" Silly people.

Stripey Cat

Kwekubo wrote: »

Professor Terry Dolan (of the NewsTalk etymology podcast) is building a very detailed dictionary of Hiberno-Irish at http://www.hiberno-english.com/, sort of like an online version of his dictionary of HE.

The link to the archive doesn't work anymore.

Does anyone know of a way of accessing it?


I'm looking for a derivation of "keep sketch".

slowburner

A Cavan friend of mine said that Ohjis was common - he had never heard Nohjis used.