Sum up the Irish

zuutroy

Ok, so say you wanted to describe the Irish mentality to a foreigner in one sentence, how would you do it?
Personally, I think the quote from Bono does it perfectly:

"In America, you look up at the mansion on the hill and say, 'One day that could be me.' In Ireland, they look up at the mansion on the hill and go, 'One day I'm gonna get that bastard.'

Classic.

Slow Motion

zuutroy wrote:

Ok, so say you wanted to describe the Irish mentality to a foreigner in one sentence, how would you do it?

Diaspora !

Fratton Fred

Aggressive Helpfulness. Let me explain.

This is a variation on something I heard a comedian talking about the other day, he called it the Irish aggressive help or something like that.

If a tourist went up to an Irishman in the middle of Grafton street (If you can find one) and asked if he had seen your pet monkey, the response would be along the lines of “A Monkey, for fecks sake, you’ve lost yer bleedin monkey. Where did you last see it, have you looked there? Oi you, this gob****es lost his bleedin monkey, help me look for it” and Grafton street would be turned upside down looking for the afore mentioned lost monkey.

Try that in London and you will get ignored (or mugged in broad daylight whilst no one notices)
Try it in New York and you will get Mace sprayed at you.
Try that in Paris and it will start a demonstration by students and end up with a strike by air traffic controllers and
Try that in Milan and the guy will pretend to help you, while his friend sneaks up behind you and removes your wallet.

That’s my opinion anyway.

The Master

zuutroy wrote:

Ok, so say you wanted to describe the Irish mentality to a foreigner in one sentence, how would you do it?
Personally, I think the quote from Bono does it perfectly:

I think Bono sums up the Irish by spending €5,000 on a
pair of pink shades then appearing on TV asking for
the rest of us to fork
over our cash for the poor

Exit

Fratton Fred wrote:

Aggressive Helpfulness. Let me explain.

This is a variation on something I heard a comedian talking about the other day, he called it the Irish aggressive help or something like that.

If a tourist went up to an Irishman in the middle of Grafton street (If you can find one) and asked if he had seen your pet monkey, the response would be along the lines of “A Monkey, for fecks sake, you’ve lost yer bleedin monkey. Where did you last see it, have you looked there? Oi you, this gob****es lost his bleedin monkey, help me look for it” and Grafton street would be turned upside down looking for the afore mentioned lost monkey.

Try that in London and you will get ignored (or mugged in broad daylight whilst no one notices)
Try it in New York and you will get Mace sprayed at you.
Try that in Paris and it will start a demonstration by students and end up with a strike by air traffic controllers and
Try that in Milan and the guy will pretend to help you, while his friend sneaks up behind you and removes your wallet.

That’s my opinion anyway.

I don't think that's very true. You're more likely to get some combination of the London/New York/Milan reaction.

How would I describe the Irish in one sentence? "Love to moan, but can't be arsed doing anything to fix their problems"

Dun laoire

A grand bunch a lads

lukin

zuutroy wrote:

Ok, so say you wanted to describe the Irish mentality to a foreigner in one sentence, how would you do it?
Personally, I think the quote from Bono does it perfectly:

"In America, you look up at the mansion on the hill and say, 'One day that could be me.' In Ireland, they look up at the mansion on the hill and go, 'One day I'm gonna get that bastard.'

Classic.

I remember when he said that on the Pat Kenny Show. Have to say I think he is spot on. We're a nation of begrudgers and no mistake.

Mr Hyde

Jacky Healy Ray is an elected member of parliament and our taoiseach can't even spell the word government

Crumble Froo

optimistically apathetic... "ah, sure, never mind, it'll be grand..."

Heinrich

1. Celtic jerseys
2. Drunk and looking for fight
3. Moaners
4. Currently great Golf enthusiasts (good ol' Harrington)
5. Formerly great cycling enthusiasts (think Roche/Kelly)
6. Former F1 enthusiasts (think Irvine)
7. Shortly ladies hurdles enthusiasts (Derval?)

MrSquishSquash

Exit wrote:

I don't think that's very true. You're more likely to get some combination of the London/New York/Milan reaction.

How would I describe the Irish in one sentence? "Love to moan, but can't be arsed doing anything to fix their problems"

Then what the hell would we moan about for Christ sake?

I'd say "Small green place full of conflicting characters! "

Ishmael

"Ah it'll be grand, i'm sure someone else will sort that out"

Tar.Aldarion

zuutroy wrote:

Ok, so say you wanted to describe the Irish mentality to a foreigner in one sentence, how would you do it?
Personally, I think the quote from Bono does it perfectly:

"In America, you look up at the mansion on the hill and say, 'One day that could be me.' In Ireland, they look up at the mansion on the hill and go, 'One day I'm gonna get that bastard.'

Classic.

Whoops

My sentence is too insulting.
:-)

magpie

A nation of shopkeepers fumbling in greasy tills

Good old Yeats.

Msfc

''ahh, sure it could be worse''

Ruu_Old

Dun laoire wrote:

A grand bunch a lads

I thought that was the Chinese?

Yer health is your wealth.

Fratton Fred

Ruu wrote:

I thought that was the Chinese?

Yer health is your wealth.

isn't that VHI's motto?

sorry, that's "Your Health is our Wealth"

Slow Motion

Same as everyone else, only more so !

big b

It'd also be interesting to see how incomers would sum up the Irish.
But they'd get banned if it wasn't a glowing report..............

maybe that's a sum-up in itself?

Slow Motion

big b wrote:

It'd also be interesting to see how incomers would sum up the Irish.
But they'd get banned if it wasn't a glowing report..............

maybe that's a sum-up in itself?

I don't think so, there are plenty of non-Irish on boards !

kevmy

Serious answer here folks;

Laid-back, optimistic inside, pessimistic outside, sport loving, hard working but also hard partying, friendly (at least outside Dublin) and above all great craic

Slutmonkey57b

kevmy wrote:

Serious answer here folks;

Laid-back, optimistic inside, pessimistic outside, sport loving, hard working but also hard partying, friendly (at least outside Dublin) and above all great craic

Sport loving? hard working? If the sport is "pint relays" and the work is "elbow work" then I'd agree.

I'd go with "Unjustifiable Smugness"

Collie D

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

Sport loving? hard working? If the sport is "pint relays" and the work is "elbow work" then I'd agree.

I'd go with "Unjustifiable Smugness"

The attitude i that post rather than the opinion would sum it up for me. Kind of an inferiority complex for want of a better phrase.

galactus

"Errra, it'll be grand" says it all!

eddyc

Collie D wrote:

The attitude i that post rather than the opinion would sum it up for me. Kind of an inferiority complex for want of a better phrase.

Spot on, pessimistic people with an inferiority complex, must be the crap weather

biko

A green and pleasant land*


*might actually refer to England

Karl Hungus

Self-loathing at the best of times.

Terry

Begrudgers.

coyote6

1) The ability to hold full joy and full sorrow simultaneously.
2) Right-brained.
3) Quiet ferocity.

Blitzkrieger

A Dutch guy once told me : "The Irish never know when to stop".

Or was it "The Irish do everything to extremes"? I was pissed at the time.

Fratton Fred

An Irish girl from Belfast told me that Ireland is the only country where the wars are happy and the songs sad.

This is starting to get very deep and meaningful:eek:

event

begrudging

moaners, but do nothing about it

Haven't a Clue

The greatest people on earth for celebrating mediocrity.

Like, when our soccer team got knocked out in the second round of the world cup (a match we really could've won), we give them an evening in Phoenix Park. When England got knocked out of the quarter finals last year, most people wanted their manager's head on a plate.

And when we step out of this mediocrity, like Padraig Harrington this week, we lose the run of ourselves altogether.

Pighead

Fratton Fred wrote:

An Irish girl from Belfast told me that Ireland is the only country where the wars are happy and the songs sad.

This is starting to get very deep and meaningful:eek:

Very deep indeed Freddie.

A Swedish girl from Sweden once told Pighead that Irishmen fcuk like jackhammers and are the best lovers in the universe.

Pighead: Putting Ireland on the map since 1994.

Marksie

Ruu wrote:

Yer health is your wealth.

Well, looking at FF and the developers it would be:

Our Wealth costs your Health

meglome

I'm off to have 12 cans of bulmers and a couple of whiskeys then I'll let you know what I think

flogen

I'd say it's a mixture of two previous posts.. an Irish person is:

Someone who feels loating for themselves and anyone who does not.

(I don't actually think that's generally true, but it is for a lot of people)

Pighead

flogen wrote:

(I don't actually think that's generally true, but it is for a lot of people)

CONTRADICTION ALERT: How can something not be generally true, yet it is for a lot of people?

Is that not a bit like Pighead saying " In general those beer guts and receding hair line lads are a nice bunch, except for the 90% of them who are absolute cnuts"

nesf

We're a country where the loser of the civil war got into power democratically within a decade.

Blitzkrieger

kevmy wrote:

friendly (at least outside Dublin)

Ah, now. The last time I was in Dublin I had forgoted my phone with all the numbers of people I know in Dublin, had no access to email, hadn't talked to anyone in a day and a half other than to order meals and was feeling kinda miserable while waiting for the Luas, when some guy out of the blue turned away from his girlfriend to talk about the weather.

Of course I wondered what kind of nutter he was and wondered if he was going to suddendly spring a bible on me, but fair play to the man for trying to cheer up a miserable looking sod.

flogen

Pighead wrote:

CONTRADICTION ALERT: How can something not be generally true, yet it is for a lot of people?

"Generally" would be the majority of the time.
"A lot" would be frequently but not mostly.

So it isn't true for most people, but it is true for many people.

Johnny Meagher

The Irish are the only people in the world who ask the question "What is it to be Irish?".

Begorrah.

Pighead

flogen wrote:

"Generally" would be the majority of the time.
"A lot" would be frequently but not mostly.

So it isn't true for most people, but it is true for many people.

Nope sorry Flogen, Pigheads not having that. Can one of the Mods from the English Language forum come over here promptly before this gets messy?

The_B_Man

A friendly lot....unless ur a prick!


substitute "a prick" for "rich" as needed!

Terry

nesf wrote:

We're a country where the loser of the civil war got into power democratically within a decade.

Which brings me back to the begrudgers point.
The voting public hated the fact that the winners won, so they voted for the losers, who they now complain about.

nesf

Terry wrote:

Which brings me back to the begrudgers point.
The voting public hated the fact that the winners won, so they voted for the losers, who they now complain about.

Indeed.

Terry

To answer the title of the thread:

26+6=1


































Sorry.
Really, I am.

Raiser

Heard this somewhere recently [Seinfeld or Frasier maybe ?]

Sean O'Casey wrote:

That's the Irish all over - they treat a joke as a serious thing and a serious thing as a joke

cooperguy

The Irish are generally easy going and up for a bit of craic. There is a huge amount of negativity on this thread but the fact is thats what we are known for around the world and not just as some cartoon stereotype the amount of time iv been talking to a bunch of foreigners and they start talking to me about the great laugh they had with a bunch of Irish lads.

Terry

Raiser wrote:

Heard this somewhere recently [Seinfeld or Frasier maybe ?]

Wasn't Seinfeld.
Although, in episode 4.05 (The Wallet) George did have a £5 note.
Jerry asked why he had it and George said that he might go to Ireland sometime.