Irishisms

liah

What's the most confusing Irishism you can think of?

When I first got here they took a hell of a lot of getting used to. "Come here" (the conversation version, not the actual command) especially. First time someone said that to me all I could think is "what the fúck? I'm already literally right beside you, how much closer can I possibly get?! Creep!"

"I'm after doing x" is another one that makes no sense to me. And I kept waiting for the remainder of the sentence every time someone ended one with "like" or "so."

I won't even get into "do be" and "amn't," much less "craic." :pac:

So, what's the strangest Irishism you can think of that you may or may not have used to confuse a poor innocent foreigner like me?

thomond2006

G'wan away outta dat.

genericguy

levy. it's a tax, it's just a sneaky irish way of putting it.

Earthhorse

liah wrote: »

"I'm after doing x" is another one that makes no sense to me.

They're just trying to respect the person's privacy.

brummytom

The word 'after' when it's not used to do with time.


He's after being sick
She's after leaving school


WHAT?!


EDIT: How did I miss this in the OP? Silly bilyl

admiralofthefleet

ill do it now in a minute

Larianne

The Australians always got confused when I said "yer man".
"which man? Who? Huh?"

And one poor German lad never understood when someone was talking about a 'fillim'. When I explained, it solved the mystery of quite a few conversations where he got lost.

genericguy

liah wrote: »

a poor innocent foreigner like me?

there's no such thing. you're here to steal our jerbs and you fcuking well know it.

My name is URL

Get yisser selves a drink while I strain the spuds

phasers

Don't discriminate against us you feckin Maple lover

Gallant_JJ

the butt of a dunt

As in 'Did ya give her the butt of a dunt'

thomond2006

I'll have a slug of Guinness.

bluefinger

least we can say aboot about

Borneo Fnctn

Come off it!

thomond2006

Larianne wrote: »

And one poor German lad never understood when someone was talking about a 'fillim'. When I explained, it solved the mystery of quite a few conversations where he got lost.

"Are ye here for the fishin'?"

Sofaspud

Lash it in the press there!

admiralofthefleet

get 'ou of that garden, get off tha' wall and take that young wan with ye

Prof.Badass

"how come" instead of "why".

Catari Jaguar

brummytom wrote: »

The word 'after' when it's not used to do with time.


He's after being sick
She's after leaving school


WHAT?!

Direct from Gaeilge "Táim tar éis e sin á dheanamh" - translates "I'm after doing that".

I think it means already, or just recently

K-Ren

Wudjagoolack she's a beour! Sure fair fúcks to ya! Wujageddup outta dat!

ziggy23

turns round. As in a conversation 'well I turns round to him and said....'

Kevin Bacon

Saying the word "grand" when something is ok confuses the hell out of ever foreigner ive ever encountered.

Then when you follow it up, when you get a confused look, with "ah its fine", confusion reigns down on the conversation..........

Bloody Nipples

Skeeeeetch!!!! It's the shades!!

Also see: Lamp! Lamp!, means the same as sketch (Watch out! basically)

thomond2006

Jackie Realy Rae wrote:

I could eat a cow's arse through a hedge.

:D

TheManWho

Trying to relate to somebody - Ara shar ya know yar self

brummytom

Lil Kitten wrote: »

Direct from Gaeilge "Táim tar éis e sin á dheanamh" - translates "I'm after doing that".

I think it means already, or just recently

Sound.. didn't know that before. Language is a strange thing

Michellenman

'Grand'.

That's a uniquely Irish thing apparently that tends to confuse people who aren't from here!

Kevin Bacon

TheManWho wrote: »

Trying to relate to somebody - Ara shar ya know yar self

Ha:D i say that at least once a day. Its great for when your not listening to someone ramble on and you have no idea what there talking about. There is not a statement in the world that someone can make that cant be answered with,

Ara shar ya know yar self!

Catari Jaguar

No bother!

Gallant_JJ

I mind ( I suppose mind is an irishism too for remember) asking a girl on hoildays to fire a shot of whatever stuff she was holding into a glass. After a bemused few seconds she said 'Is fire, where'.

Professey Chin

I thought this was gonna be about Irish text messages

Catari Jaguar

Here are some great Dublinisms: Crips, hostibal, pasgetti, chimley, drownded, babby, go me toilet/dirt

And "Here, giz a shot o' dat!" when you want a turn of something.

Ollchailin

"I'd ate a scabby babby's arse through a skeach hedge"

"Go away", a term used ofr disbelief, as in: "I won the lotto, Mary". "Go away Bridie, you did not"

"The head on him" to describe someone's apparent emotional state (comes from the Gaeilge form of putting an emotion "on" someone, e.g. "tá brón orm" for "I'm sad/sorry" means literally "sadness/sorrow is on me")

"Cat" for something bad, as in "It hasn't stopped lashin' all day, the weather is cat"

"So I am/So I did" at the end of sentences, "I'm goin' out on the tear tonight so I am"

"Sure", but not as in to be convinced of something, but pronounced like "shir", e.g. "Shir (sure) you'll have a cup of tea shir (sure)"

Then there's the whole thing of being polite by refusing something that's offered to you first, only to accept when it's offered the second time, e.g. "Will you have a sweet"... "I won't, I'm grand thanks"... "Ah go on, sure you might as well".... "Ah alright so, thanks a million" (see Mrs. Doyle!!!)

brummytom

Lil Kitten wrote: »

Here are some great Dublinisms: Crips, hostibal, pasgetti, chimley, drownded, babby, go me toilet/dirt

And "Here, giz a shot o' dat!" when you want a turn of something.

These are common over here too.. especially babby

Jeanious

liah wrote: »

I won't even get into "do be" and "amn't"

Take it back!

I am........Am I?.......Am not I?........Amn't I?
You are...Are you?...Are not you?....Aren't you?
He is.......Is he?.......Is not he?.......Isn't he?

makes perfect sense!

"aren't I?" however, don't!

Id imagine the weirdest thing about us to foreigners would be the placenames for a start, and the absolutley minisculity of our Action:Moaning ratio!

"Yizzer" as well! "Gerrup and wash yizzer face!" is a usage i've only heard where i'm from....note: it's not "yizzer faceS", just "yizzer face", and this is only used when addressing a group of people....strange!

Also "Afraid" pronounced "Afrerd", to rhyme with "herd", only ever heard that around my place as well for some reason!

Catari Jaguar

coyle wrote: »

"Yizzer" as well! "Gerrup and wash yizzer face!" is a usage i've only heard where i'm from....note: it's not "yizzer faceS", just "yizzer face", and this is only used when addressing a group of people....strange!

Also "Afraid" pronounced "Afrerd", to rhyme with "herd", only ever heard that around my place as well for some reason!

Yea, yizzer is your plural I think! Skobie grammar. I love it!

pikachucheeks

Grand job is another one - and fair play.

I find it hilarious that in Irish, fair play is just translated to "fair play duit!"

Jeanious

That girl's rotten, she's "bet sios"!...goddamn it i hate the irish language.

pikachucheeks

coyle wrote: »

That girl's rotten, she's "bet sios"!...goddamn it i hate the irish language.

Bet sios!

Love it! *yoink* It's mine now!

"ta f*ck" is another Irish thing.
eg. "Come on, ta f*ck"

... bizarre!

Gallant_JJ

pacificallly = specifically

Catari Jaguar

pikachucheeks wrote: »

Grand job is another one - and fair play.

I find it hilarious that in Irish, fair play is just translated to "fair play duit!"

Ros na Rún, "agus bhí sí just like soo.....*irish word* tá fhios agat?" "Sea, I know yea"

Namlub

The greatest Irishism of all, ye instead of you all.
Also, 'wrecking my head' and pronouncing probably as 'probly'

Pygmalion

"Amn't" is short for "am not".
"I amn't" and "I'm not" mean the exact same thing and expand to the exact same thing.
It's the idiots with "Aren't I"/"I aren't" that are butchering the language.

I think pronounciation can be quite weird, I just realised recently that insead of saying "Do you" or "Did you" I just say "Juh", sometimes "Di-juh" for did you.
Add a 's'/'z' sound if talking to more than one person of course to specify that it's plural.

Starting every sentence with "sure" and ending it with "like" is another one.
And not pronouncing the letter 'T' probably/at all.

I don't see why i need to tell any of you this though.
Sure, juhz noh know yerselves, like?

Euro_Kraut

-'Are you going to the game?'
- 'I am.'

-'Did you see the match?'
- 'I did'

Very Irish habit to repeat the verb back when answering the question instead of using Yes and No. It comes from Irish of course where there is no word for Yes or No. Always find that fascinating.

Jeanious

pikachucheeks wrote: »

Bet sios!

Love it! *yoink* It's mine now!

Tis all yours! Dya never hear that before? I remember a cousin of mine brought it back from the gaeltacht 10 or more years ago, but i havent heard it since!

grenache

"I will in my boll0x!" As in...... "theres no chance of me doing that"

"How'd you get on?" As in....."how did you do?"

"How's she cutting?" As in....."how are you doing"

"He's fair watery" As in....."he is very weak"

Mars Bar

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

Skeeeeetch!!!! It's the shades!!

Also see: Lamp! Lamp!, means the same as sketch (Watch out! basically)

We use that up our way too! *high 5*

Brian CivilEng

Horse that inta ya now. Usually said when placing a Guinness on front of someone.

Tom65

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

-'Are you going to the game?'
- 'I am.'

-'Did you see the match?'
- 'I did'

Very Irish habit to repeat the verb back when answering the question instead of using Yes and No. It comes from Irish of course where there is no word for Yes or No. Always find that fascinating.

A friend of mine was doing a study of Irishisms. Apparently the most unique to Irish people are the above and to say "I'm after...". There was a third, but I can't remember it.

tony 2 tone

"I will, yeah"-which translates as "No, I shall not being doing what you asked of me"
Also, yeah sure, meaning the same as above. That drives me nuts, as the mot is not Irish and says it all the time.

Naikon

Dublin person: 'Giz a pack of 20'

'Just as good is no use'

'Havin the crack' Americans in particular take offence to this.

'I'm goin out for the pull'

'Well Horse/Boss'

'I hear they eat their young around those parts'

And you know you are in Ireland when you stop at a junction where
the stop sign is contradicted by the yield marker on the road infront.

Only in Ireland...