Things said in Ireland that no one says in England

languagenerd

My friend and I once confused an English guy who worked with us in Spain by saying something like "Now, we know it's not your fault - we're not giving out to you, it's just...". He thought "giving out" was some sexual slang and quickly told us he had a girlfriend :pac:

I live in Scotland now and have had the same issues as everyone else - grand, kitchen press, I was after doing..., bring/take, etc. They also don't say "I amn't", it's "I'm not" - I love Hiberno-English

gaiscioch

Stepping Stone wrote: »

I repeatedly hear 'I do be' here and I die a tiny bit every time.

I "do be" expresses the speaker's sentiment perfectly, based on the habitual present tense Irish verb Bí. I don't know why any educated Irish person would be ashamed of this very understandable and legitimate transfer from Irish into Hiberno-English, this indicator of an Irish linguistic world. Similarly, "I'm after my dinner" and "giving out" are direct translations from the Irish. They are nothing to be ashamed of.

It is not "bad grammar" as used by the legions of people who say "I done/seen" or "should/would of" or "he thrun that ball" or who haven't a clue when to use 'number' instead of 'amount', or who pronounce the number 0 in a phone number as the letter o, and so on ad infinitum.

efb

Our currency is the Euro
Our capital is dublin


Am I doing this right?

actua11

A few have been mentioned already, like '"well" and "sure" that we add to sentences that don't actually add anything but are there just to confuse people not from Ireland.

The one I use and hear often is "look it", as in basically to mean 'no problem' but I just don't know where the phrase comes from as I never heard it living in England. Maybe got mixed up with 'luck' along the way, but I actually have no idea.

For example - "Ah, we've missed the bus...."Sure look it, the next one'll be here soon enough"

gaiscioch

The common nouns of 'main street' (or even 'retail sales') in Ireland v 'high street' in Britain (although Conor Pope tried his best to bring the latter into Ireland via regurgitated press releases from British firms during the bubble).

Danonino.

Is canted (spelling) a waterford thing or an Irish thing?
As in 'you canted the ball ya dope' means you kicked the ball arseways and now its lost? Like a sort of weird word combining Sliced and lost?

Long time ago but I remember there were a few headaches trying to learn off these weird words for regular things and getting blank stares when using the opposites

Gallybander - catapult (slingshot)
Topper - Parer (sharpener)
Gaff - House
Lack - Moth (girlfriend)
Well - Hello

ardle1

We: Ahhh I'm not well!
Them: I feel poorly.

We: Hurry up Jimmy.
Them: Quick as ya like Jimmy.

Luke92

The pronunciation of 3.

Irish - 3 is pronounced Tree.
English - 3 is pronounced free.

The Golden Miller

you wouldn't have a spare ciggie mate?

zcorpian88

Slobbercaun: A messy person

Never hear many say that anymore!

Banjoxed

Into The Blue wrote: »

See o baann for Siobhán
Eaowin for Eoin

Shove on, Owen!

Banjoxed

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Ask English people of a certain age, they would say they were brought up calling it nesels

Google Milky Bar adverts from the sixties and seventies - it was "Nessels" in these islands before "Nes-lay"

zcorpian88

Snifters: A few drinks

Think that's an Irish used word anyway, usually said by older folks, 50+ I'd say

"Oh yeah we must head down the local for a few snifters"

Banjoxed

zcorpian88 wrote: »

Snifters: A few drinks

Think that's an Irish used word anyway, usually said by older folks, 50+ I'd say

"Oh yeah we must head down the local for a few snifters"

Heard "snifter" in London a few times.

Speaking of Milky Bars:
http://youtu.be/F-Z3Vk3xp7A

delthedriver

press - cupboard

hot press - airing cupboard

Ciara - pronounced "Keyara"

Dia1988

English say: eraser
Irish say: Rubber.....something very different to them! ��

onlyrocknroll

onlyrocknroll wrote: »

We use bring and take differently to other English speakers.

In the Uk and else you take something from where you are to somewhere else (away from you) and bring something to your current location from somewhere else. We don't have this distinction.

I've been living here for a few years, and I still have an uncontrollable urge to correct my girlfriend and her daughter when they say to bring something somewhere. I tried to explain the difference between bring and take, but I honestly don't think they understood

Hibernosaur

I'm from Dublin (North) and find I use a lot of the English terms and have never even heard some of the irish ones mentioned here.

For example I say erasure, pencil sharpener etc.

One thing that really bugs me for some reason is the west or Midlands Irish not being able to pronouce the word Eight.

"It's half Ayeesh"

I find it funny when Irish people say nought instead of O or zero. When giving a phone number.

"Nought ayeesh seven".

Or pretentious people adding a shh to the end of words where there should be a T. Like "Wash?" instead of "What? ". Which makes them sound like yokels when they are pretending to be posh.

Into The Blue

Hibernosaur wrote: »

I'm from Dublin (North) and find I use a lot of the English terms and have never even heard some of the irish ones mentioned here.

For example I say erasure, pencil sharpener etc.

Could be an age thing? I'm 36 and from North Dublin, and only ever heard rubbers and parers as a young fella. Might have changed since.

Hibernosaur

Into The Blue wrote: »

Could be an age thing? I'm 36 and from North Dublin, and only ever heard rubbers and parers as a young fella. Might have changed since.

I've heard parers and Rubbers, but find erasure to be just as common where I'm from. I'm 30 myself so not much difference in age.

I've noticed that some outlying parts of Dublin tend to have the most neutral accents overall (Closest to standard English) well as parts of Kildare and Wicklow. These would be parts of North county Dublin such as Skerries, Malahide, Swords etc as well as South East Dublin out to Greystones. Also Maynooth and some satellite Towns.

Almost the lack of an accent and the use of more Anglicized terms.

I suppose that's one of the reasons they call us West Brits.

I remember as a child holidaying in Roscommon and being told by some adults that I was not proper Irish, and added an EEN to the end of my name as in Jackeen. I was quite offended by this and didn't understand what they meant, until I was older and realized that they saw me as a West Brit.

I had never held a Hurley or played GAA, but played Cricket and Rugby in school. I should add that this is on the Northside and in a rather rough area, so not the stereotypical Rugby school.

During my travels to Britain I have noticed that there is a cultural similarity between English towns and Dublin, from the Coolocks to the Blackrocks.

I would say in some ways more similar than Dublin is to Cork.

_______________________________________________________

Anyway I digress; Back on topic, one of the main differences between the English and the Hiberno-English (Thats us folks) is the pronounciation of the 'TH's and the 'R's.

Awwland instead of Ireland, and for 30 they say Firty where we say Thurty.

One pretty bad habit in England is to say Nufink instead of Nothing.

thunderdog

An example that I have noticed from my English cousins

When something is great:

English say it is sick, we'd say it was deadly

Note: sick may also be replaced with "well good"

Long Gone

Something that strangely appears to have absolutely no equivalent expression in England is the (sarcastic and very descriptive) Irish expression " He had a big welcome for himself " to describe a situation where someone turns up and thinks that people will be a lot happier to see him than they actually are.......;)

Hibernosaur

thunderdog wrote: »

An example that I have noticed from my English cousins

When something is great:

English say it is sick, we'd say it was deadly

Note: sick may also be replaced with "well good"

Thats more of the "innit" Asian London subculture though innit?

kitchenkid

feargale wrote: »

England : Stoat.
Ireland : Weasel

England : Weasel
Ireland : nothing ( doesn't exist here.)

Reminds me of the old joke about the difference between them: A weasel is weasily recognised but a stoat is stoatily different...........:)

french_bloke

I was in Spain last year, lots of scottish and English there. I said i'd love a sambo...
As in sandwich!
Lots of very surprised faces and questions of "you'd love what!?"
Apparently a sambo is slang for someone of ethnic origin!!!

So glad I didn't say "I'd murder a sambo!!"

thunderdog

Hibernosaur wrote: »

Thats more of the "innit" Asian London subculture though innit?

Could be. My relations live in a posh area of Manchester though and pay huge school fees etc so it looks like it has filtered through.

not yet

They say: Gay

We say: Quare

They say: Go away/You are joking/Not a chance

We say: Get the fcuk....!!

A lot of things being brought up only depend on what part of England you're talking about.

Only a small part of England would say 'f' instead of 'th'.

Large parts of England (mainly the North) say 'filim' instead of film, just like here.

Day Lewin

LOL - they don't have ham-sambos in Blighty, then? Just "sarnies"? (a word which only makes sense when you remember the silent intervocalic "R")

What do they make them out of? My brother once asked in London for a Small Pan and was offered a frying-pan!

The same brother also went to a stationer to request some Thumb-tacks and was told by the puzzled sales assistant that the chemist was the place for ladies stuff.
AH! Not "Tampax"!! -- what you want, mate, is a "Droring-pin".

Nesta99

Nagin of vodka = 1/4 bottle of vodka etc.

Customer to bar man "Can I have a glass of Guinness"
Barman with puzzled look "Eh all drinks is(sic) served in glasses",
Customer "Sorry can I have half a pint of Guinness"

Irish the number three, English south of Watford - the number free

Water - Woaahhh

Water Closet - wtf!!

hot press as mentioned gets a double take every time.

Mat(h)s = Maath.

Potato is now ubiquitiously said in a leprechaun like high pitch and sometimes randomly thrown in to sentences ala tourettes, thank you Keith Lemon.

Nesta99

Hibernosaur wrote: »

For example I say erasure, pencil sharpener

Blue Savannah one?

dvcireland

rachiedee4298 wrote: »

I lived over in UK for over ten years..other words or sayings I've come across:

We say: Cop on
They say: Pack it in

We say: that's bold
They say: that's naughty

We say: tea or coffee?
They say: brew?

Also the English for some reason can't say the name Cathal correctly - pretty amusing. Comes out sounding like Karl

in the Microdisney song Town to Town, singer Cathal Coughlan picks up on this:

".....She's nervous and her. Best friend is waiting, She's trying to pronounce my name...."

rachiedee4298

rachiedee4298 wrote: »

I lived over in UK for over ten years..other words or sayings I've come across:

We say: Cop on
They say: Pack it in

Cop on and pack it in mean very different things, although I guess both have the same end result.

Cop on means to learn, or wise up.

Pack it in just means to stop.

languagenerd

Basil3 wrote: »

I've been living here for a few years, and I still have an uncontrollable urge to correct my girlfriend and her daughter when they say to bring something somewhere. I tried to explain the difference between bring and take, but I honestly don't think they understood

I don't think a lot of Irish people can get our heads around this - we don't have the same distinction between the terms (because of the way their equivalents are used in Irish) and we just don't conceptualise them the same way. I have studied other languages and linguistics, but I still genuinely can't explain the difference between bring and take as used in England.

Hibernosaur

Basil3 wrote: »

A lot of things being brought up only depend on what part of England you're talking about.

Only a small part of England would say 'f' instead of 'th'.

Large parts of England (mainly the North) say 'filim' instead of film, just like here.

Absolutely, I find the Northern English (Yorkshire, Manchester etc) To be much more akin to the Irish then they are to their southern counterparts.

In my humble opinion the cities that are most like Dublin in the entire British isles would not be in Ireland at all, but in Northern England.

SpaceTime

Nesta99 wrote: »

Nagin of vodka = 1/4 bottle of vodka etc.

Customer to bar man "Can I have a glass of Guinness"
Barman with puzzled look "Eh all drinks is(sic) served in glasses",
Customer "Sorry can I have half a pint of Guinness"

Irish the number three, English south of Watford - the number free

Water - Woaahhh

Water Closet - wtf!!

hot press as mentioned gets a double take every time.

Mat(h)s = Maath.

Potato is now ubiquitiously said in a leprechaun like high pitch and sometimes randomly thrown in to sentences ala tourettes, thank you Keith Lemon.

You're mixing up with American English there:

Maths is maths (or sums if you're an old geyser).

Water Closet would get you WTF in England or Ireland, and rightly so! It's dropped out of usage about 150 years ago. WC still gets used on the continent though as shorthand for the toilet.

I find Irish use of "a glass" confusing at times.
I got a bottled beer that needed a pint glass. Asked for a glass and got handed a 1/2pt. Then had to say : a big glass.

Hotpress is just uniquely Irish though.

They so not use the term closet in Ireland or England either unless you're coming out of one as a metaphor.

Into The Blue

languagenerd wrote: »

I have studied other languages and linguistics, but I still genuinely can't explain the difference between bring and take as used in England.

Is it, if someone is telling you, they tell you to bring it with you, but if you're taking about yourself, you take it with you?

pickarooney

I've never really understood it either. I don't see any logical distinction.

Into The Blue

Into The Blue wrote: »

Is it, if someone is telling you, they tell you to bring it with you, but if you're taking about yourself, you take it with you?

Generally you bring something to where you are, and you take it if it's going away.

I always ask my Mrs why you guys don't have a bring-away on a Saturday night instead of a take-away

pickarooney

Basil3 wrote: »

Generally you bring something to where you are, and you take it if it's going away.

Telekenesis was never that big in Ireland, that's probably why.

delthedriver

Red lemonade!


Definitely cause confusion in an English bar .....

MathsManiac

As I understand it, in the UK:

"bring" if the focus is on getting the item to the destination;
"take" if the focus is on removing it from where it is.

This focus might (or might not) be due to the location of the speaker.

When he came to my house for dinner, he brought a bottle of wine. We didn't open it, so I told him to take it away with him again.

The distinction between the two isn't really prevalent in Ireland, but even here I don't think they'd be interchangeable in the above context. "When he came to my house for dinner, he took a bottle of wine." (The fecker!)

languagenerd

MathsManiac wrote: »

As I understand it, in the UK:

"bring" if the focus is on getting the item to the destination;
"take" if the focus is on removing it from where it is.

This focus might (or might not) be due to the location of the speaker.



The distinction between the two isn't really prevalent in Ireland, but even here I don't think they'd be interchangeable in the above context. "When he came to my house for dinner, he took a bottle of wine." (The fecker!)

Yeah, I see what you mean in that example.

But I think we don't have the same focus on the place, because you're always moving the item from one place to another. Your sentence could easily end with "I told him to bring it home with him" instead of "I told him to take it away with him". I suppose then the focus would be on him getting home, rather than him leaving your house - but in other sentences I wouldn't be sure which place is the main focus...

In Ireland (at least), you could say both "Don't forget to bring an umbrella with you!" and "Don't forget to take an umbrella with you!" to someone who was going out, for example. Or "Can you bring me to the airport on Monday?" and "Can you take me to the airport on Monday?" are interchangeable. Or if you didn't want something, you could say "I'm going to bring this back to the shop" as well as "I'm going to take this back to the shop".

waulie_palnuts

PixelTrawler wrote: »

Out the gap. One of the lads at work uses that a lot. Hes from the Mayo\roscommon border. "Well get this **** done and then out the gap"

Does he normally say it three times?

gaiscioch

Ireland: Is it yourself that's in it?
England: Hello

Ireland: Amn't I after telling you
England: Haven't I just told you

Reflexive pronouns (myself, himself, etc) are much more used in Ireland to emphasise something. Between myself and yourself, there wasn't but myself and himself in it, although less colourful parts of Ireland are nowadays replacing "in it" with "there".

In the north they also have a nice reflexive twist at the end of sentences - e.g. He was there surely, so he was; There was two of them in it, so there was; He did rightly, so he did...

Come here till I tell you/Cogar...

I'll go away from you now/ Imeoidh mé uait anois

con___manx1

cooker im pretty sure is an irish one too.in america and canada they call it a stove not sure about england.

Big Wex fan

Can't believe no one mentioned yet about having 'a right pain in me mickey' or 'I've a pain in me bollix' or as the English would say 'I'm fed up'.

Simi

I don't know about the rest of you, but I (and by extension my family & friends) would always use Cupboard/Airing Cupboard. I was old enough to remember the first time someone asked me to get something from a press/hot press as I recall staring at them blankly, until they explained what a Cupboard was like I was some kind of idiot child. I'd never heard of a Topper until I was in college, it was always Pencil Parer. I've also very, very rarely heard people say Sambo.

I think a lot of these 'Irish' sayings are more regional than people realise. I'm from Sligo btw.

Nesta99

SpaceTime wrote: »

You're mixing up with American English there:

Maths is maths (or sums if you're an old geyser).

Water Closet would get you WTF in England or Ireland, and rightly so! It's dropped out of usage about 150 years ago. WC still gets used on the continent though as shorthand for the toilet.

I find Irish use of "a glass" confusing at times.
I got a bottled beer that needed a pint glass. Asked for a glass and got handed a 1/2pt. Then had to say : a big glass.

Hotpress is just uniquely Irish though.

They so not use the term closet in Ireland or England either unless you're coming out of one as a metaphor.

Disagree with the 'math' point. Where I am it is most certainly Math (Maath) as opposed to my Mats. Its not extensively used granted but I have heard 'closet' used frequently enough -'where is the sweeping brush - in the closet'. Richmond, West London probably does have plenty of influences from North America and the Continent for one reason or another.

Sebastian Dangerfield

A girl I know moved to England with her then boyfriend / now husband and shortly afterwards threw him a birthday party. She went to stationary shops all over town looking for thumb tacks to hang decorations, only to be met with blank expressions everywhere. Having spent half the day looking she tried one last shop, who said "oooohhhh, you should have asked for drawing pins".