English words and expressions used in Ireland only

Jev/N · 14-02-2010 01:07AM

"I'm going up/down town" tends to be used quite a bit even though there might be no significance to where up and down is

also

"I'm in town" when you're in the city centre

And then you have the drunk words:

trollied
langered
half-cut
gee-eyed
etc.

Kassilights · 14-02-2010 01:18AM

I lived in Ireland (cork) for six years,moved over from the UK. My parents are Irish and have alot of family in Cork, so i'm well used to the Irish words and phrases but one that got me was 'well wear' (sp), seemed to be used when anyone did anything good or bought something big.
Like when I bought my new car, my cousin said 'well wear to you', had to ask what they meant hehe.

dublingirl83 · 14-02-2010 01:41AM

"and i goes to her" instead of "i said to her"
me auld buck- my father

nonsmoker · 14-02-2010 01:49AM

[QUOTE
Or people getting a hand full of shopping, ''I was just up getting some messages'', never understud where that came from.
[/QUOTE]

Never knew this either but recently ready somewhere that years and years ago when people didnt have phones, regular post, newspapers etc, people did not get to the shops anywhere near as often as we do today, maybe only weekly/monthly. When they did get there they would have asked the shopkeeper to pass on a message to others who they had not seen but who would be at the same shop at some time and likewise the shopkeeper would have passed on any messages to them, this is where 'getting the messages' comes from.

Mineral - soft drink
Scunnered - fed up
Are ye right - you ready
Aw god aye - yes
God ony knows - who knows
Wee cretur - usually a small child
Foundered - cold
Surely te god - agreeing with something
Howl tight - hold on
Havent a notion - dont know
Callin into someone - visiting someone, not actually telephoning them
oul boy - father
oul doll/oul girl - mother or woman
ready to drop - when a woman is ready to give birth

Intothesea · 14-02-2010 01:53AM

Kassilights wrote: »

Like when I bought my new car, my cousin said 'well wear to you', had to ask what they meant hehe.

This comes from 'go maire tú 'is go gcaithe tú é' -- may you live to wear it

changes · 14-02-2010 01:59AM

christina_x wrote: »

changes wrote: »

People in donegal who put the word wild into any sentance at all.

Wild hard, wild fast, i'm wild sick etc

no no no... its "wile"
its wile cold - its very cold
im wile hungry - im starving
it was wile funny - it was hysterical

you get the picture...

Same thing wild/wile.... same meaning different spelling

rainbowtrout · 14-02-2010 02:11AM

We tend to use the word cross instead of angry a lot. Probably from the word 'crosta'

Sea Sharp · 14-02-2010 03:47AM

Ah I'll do that so. Look at your wan over there.

Youngfella.

'meet'

source · 14-02-2010 12:27PM

Most of these come from direct translations of irish phrases.

eg Ag tabhairt amach.... giving out.
crosta.... cross
etc etc

EDIT: sitting room known commonly in other English speaking countries as a lounge comes from the Irish Seomra suite.

14-02-2010 12:34PM

Go leor is another one, now widely adopted into the English language.

blueser · 14-02-2010 12:49PM

I'm from sunny (?) Manchester originally and the first time someone said to me "Now you're suckin' diesel", I was like "what?". The same when I heard "how's she cuttin'?"; it was "how's who cutting and what is she cutting?"

Queen-Mise · 14-02-2010 12:56PM

The term 'bold' when telling a child 'that was bold'. That is only an irish term, the looks I have gotten of adults and kids alike for using it.

Cerocco · 14-02-2010 01:26PM

Rashers -- Bacon
The scratcher -- Bed

And the best is Irish people tend to say bye bout 10 times before the phone is hung up. I never really noticed this before until it was pointed out to me by an english friend and it's drawn my attention to it. Its like who can get the last bye in before the phone is put down

:D

Seloth · 14-02-2010 03:47PM

MungoMan wrote: »

People in western Ireland using the word "Ye" as a plural of "You", I guess that's a throwback to Elizabethan english

I dont know what part of Ireland your from but most place in the country use ye instead of you.

dublin 16 lad · 14-02-2010 04:02PM

Cerocco wrote: »

Rashers -- Bacon
The scratcher -- Bed

And the best is Irish people tend to say bye bout 10 times before the phone is hung up. I never really noticed this before until it was pointed out to me by an english friend and it's drawn my attention to it. Its like who can get the last bye in before the phone is put down :D

The scratcher is the dole down my neck of the woods

Coriolanus · 14-02-2010 04:08PM

Gyalist wrote: »

The syntax of Jamaican English (patois) is actually closely related to West African languages. Trinidad has more French and Spanish influences.

Some Trinidadian men do call one another "horse". Trinidadians and Guyanese call one another "boy" but it is generally hated by Jamaicans and African-Americans as it's a throw-back to slavery when even grown men were called boy.

There were lots of Irish transported by the British to the Caribbean. Even though the British saw them as second-class (and in some cases as sub-human) they were higher up the pecking order than the slaves and were thus given positions of authority such as foremen, etc. If you ever Montserrat you would be amazed at how Irish it is. Lots of Irish surnames and placenames, and they celebrate St. Patrick's Day too!

Prendergast is particulary common in Jamaica. It's not unusual to hear other Irish surnames in the other islands. I actually know a woman named Siobhan O'Brien!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8yEqco39T8

thetonynator · 14-02-2010 04:16PM

''stop the lights''!!!

i know someone who says '' hows yer mickey'' instead of hello . . . i can't imagine using that in any other country . . .

Fago! · 14-02-2010 04:19PM

thetonynator wrote: »

''stop the lights''!!!

i know someone who says '' hows yer mickey'' instead of hello . . . i can't imagine using that in any other country . . .

Me and my mate say "How's yore gooch" instead of hello.

Calibos · 14-02-2010 04:43PM

My Australian cousins were rolling around the floor laughing after my mother on a visit to OZ asked one of them to 'have a root in the cupboard under the stairs, will ye', because she wanted to see the family photo's.

To 'have a root' in OZ speak is to 'have a ****'

After she found out what it meant she used the phrase everywhere she went. In her sisters friends houses, in public in shops etc just for 'a bit of divilment'

She loved to see peoples reactions and would feign ignorance saying she didn't know what it meant. She'd ask a shopkeeper for something she knew he didn't have. He might say, "I don't think I have any", and she would say. " Well will ye have a root in the storeroom for me then?"

I've got a touch of the divil in me too. When I have Aussie girls in the shop and they ask me for something, I'll say, "I'll have a root in the storeroom for ye"

gonnaplayrugby · 14-02-2010 04:50PM

most irish expressions are really just english but some like cross are unique.

amdublin · 14-02-2010 06:53PM

Giz a go of your bike.

Or: giz a go of your 7-up ie. can I have some of your drink.

chupacabra · 14-02-2010 07:50PM

Here's an interesting one for you. Did you know that the american use of the word "Dig" as in "Can you dig it" or "you diiig?" which became popular in the jazz/blues era of music came from the irish verb "tuig" which means to "understand" and when used in a question is something like "An dtuigim tu?" or something. I read about it somewhere.

gonnaplayrugby · 14-02-2010 08:20PM

well it stands to reason. one of the first europeans en masse to arrive in the country and then settle in cities so it's bound to influence the vocab there.

dvpower · 14-02-2010 08:33PM

"I gave her a ride".
Can't believe this one hasn't been mentioned 10 pages in.

irishh_bob · 14-02-2010 09:22PM

Calibos wrote: »

My Australian cousins were rolling around the floor laughing after my mother on a visit to OZ asked one of them to 'have a root in the cupboard under the stairs, will ye', because she wanted to see the family photo's.

To 'have a root' in OZ speak is to 'have a ****'

After she found out what it meant she used the phrase everywhere she went. In her sisters friends houses, in public in shops etc just for 'a bit of divilment' She loved to see peoples reactions and would feign ignorance saying she didn't know what it meant. She'd ask a shopkeeper for something she knew he didn't have. He might say, "I don't think I have any", and she would say. " Well will ye have a root in the storeroom for me then?"

I've got a touch of the divil in me too. When I have Aussie girls in the shop and they ask me for something, I'll say, "I'll have a root in the storeroom for ye"

actually to have a root in oz or nz means to have sex

Ultravid · 14-02-2010 09:32PM

I am not sure how to spell* it, but I use the word 'quare', for example, ''It's quare 'an hot today'' meaning ''It's very hot today.''

Does anybody else use this?

* This is it: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Quare

Irish meaning 'very' or 'extremely'. a rural pronouniaction of the word Queer.

(Does not mean great, as it can be used in a negative sense, ie. this funeral is quare depressing.
The weather was quare cold.
That woman is quare fine

I remember when I was at university in England, a certain climbing instructor thought I was dumb because I ended my questions with a question, like this example from wikipedia**:

It is also common to end sentences with "no?" or "yeah?"
"He isn't coming today, no?" Níl sé ag teacht inniu, nach bhfuil?
"The bank's closed now, yeah?" Tá an banc dúnta anois, an bhfuil?

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

Karlusss · 14-02-2010 09:47PM

MungoMan wrote: »

People in western Ireland using the word "Ye" as a plural of "You", I guess that's a throwback to Elizabethan english

I like this thread and will now proceed to read the rest of it, but in case no-one said this, that's not the derivation of this.

"Ye" as in "Ye Olde Shoppe" isn't actually a Y, it's a thorn, a hangover from Old English/Old Norse. It's a single letter for the sound "th" that just became obsolete. So "Ye Olde Shoppe" is pronounced "The Old Shop", boringly.

Ye as you plural just makes sense though. It's everyone else who's wrong, especially the English. Also, Dublin-wise, Yis, and related term Yisser.

Chicken Run · 14-02-2010 09:54PM

You "go for your messages" in Scotland as well.....

irishh_bob · 14-02-2010 10:12PM

my mom is from the west and often says ye , she also says abroad all the time as in the lawnmower is abroad in the garrage

gagiteebo · 14-02-2010 10:22PM

I'm from Cavan and up there we say (not sure how to spell it

) ojeous as in " Yer man is an ojeous bollocks" meaning he really is a bollocks, we say 'quare' a lot as well and one of my favourite insults is 'humpy bastard/hoo-er'

I love Irish spake:
-Pay no heed to him
-Ah shure I'm only coddin' ya/pullin' at ya
-Ah sure feck it, it'll be grand
-Gobsh*te
-'What are ya at?' 'Divil a bit'
-C'mere ta me you

Great thread

English words and expressions used in Ireland only

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