Best Donegal Slang

PanicStations · 23-05-2011 8:55pm

smugchik wrote: »

I once heard someone say "amn't" instead of 'I'm not' as in "I amn't going."

I was really shocked as he was quite articulate in other areas.

"amn't" is grammatically correct. It is a common usage in Hiberno English.

Please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contractions_of_negated_auxiliary_verbs_in_English#Amn.27t

deman · 23-05-2011 9:01pm

I remember years ago having new neighbours from England and how they were confused by another older neighbour when he would tell them that he was "heading up to the firm to check the kettle"

:D

unknownlegend · 23-05-2011 9:04pm

Aye
wild
Hai
Lad
yoke/yock
Brave
damn the hait
Cave (pronounced calf) as in "he calfed on his twelfth pint of Guinness"

Also very confusing to people in Dublin in my experience is denoting your shopping as "messages", eg "got a few bags of messages in dunnes earlier". It's like speaking in tongues when ya speak fast on a phone to a local I'm told :pac:

PanicStations · 23-05-2011 9:41pm

"Land" for "arrive", as in "we landed in Letterkenny at 2 o'clock".

"Dodge" for "walk" as in "I dodged up the road to Mary's house".

implausible · 23-05-2011 10:02pm

PanicStations wrote: »

"Land" for "arrive", as in "we landed in Letterkenny at 2 o'clock".

We have that down the Wesht too.

After being confused by and takin' a hand out the accent since I moved up, I heard myself shouting "hi sir!" at my 11 month old the other day......:eek:

muffler · 23-05-2011 10:47pm

deemark wrote: »

After being confused by and takin' a hand out the accent since I moved up, I heard myself shouting "hi sir!" at my 11 month old the other day......:eek:

Lemming · 23-05-2011 10:57pm

Great thread. All I can hear in my head when reading it all are my dad & relatives (well those relatives obviously from Donegal ... ) speaking

muffler · 23-05-2011 11:16pm

I recall spending a couple of years in Dublin and the feckers used to laugh at me when I'd say something like "sit you down there" or "go you up the stairs first". They would be in stitches as they would always have "you" at the start of the sentence

irlpic · 24-05-2011 12:19am

Extracts From TheDonegal Dictionary

A……….I
Aul……. Old
Aul Boy….Father
Aul Doll…Mother
Aye……..Yes
Bother…..Hassle
Canny……Cannot
Class…. .Good/Great
Dinny……Don’t
Doll……Girl or woman
Foundered .Extremely cold
Fray……From
Gan…….Going
Gaff……House/flat
Geesa…..Give me a
Gissa…..Girl
Glack……..Good luck………..Good bye
Gon…….Please
Hanlin….Trouble or Fight or Argument
Hi……..Used at the start and end of every sentence
Hay…….Have
Hey?……Phrased as a question meaning what
Juck……Boy or Man
Ker………… Car
Lock……Small amount of something
Mind……To remember
Mon…….Come on
Naw…….No
Nuance….Unusual
Pure……very
Purdies…Potatoes
Rare……strange or unusual
Staish….Oh wow or Look
Thon……That
Tight…..Cruel
Wan…….One or 1
Wan…….Refering to a person. E.g. “Look at that wan there”
Wee…….Small
Weins…..Babies or children
Well……Hello
Wile……Very or Terrible
Yes…….Hello
Yis Sir…Slang, Hello
Yes Horse……..Hello to someone u like
Yock……… different types of vehicles

Grab a howlt te it
canny see a stime
A was beside mesel
How Minnie
stop actin the feckin chloster
Stap yer oul nyammin' an' dry up
what wuz agoiny say there?
the whin bushes are tirning yalla
the slevers was running out of me mouth thinking on a tear of drink
The wee lambs is fairly leppin about the feel
What day's the day?
PURE SCUNNERED
guggies
Aye, sure this is it. This is what yer up again
Kep
misuring tape
Are ya fer out the night are ya, aye?Ya wuren't out last night wur ya, naw?
Thon oul bolicks
the break for ye
Qwer sore weather on turrrf
Made a hems o' it
cat melodian
Foundered
Starving wi the hunger
Starving kowl
Sit down, Hi, or you'll get a thick ear.
An' you'll get yer arse warmed while am adit
Ach sure it's no wile odds
Suss it out
The smell of yer wan
Wile afeered
cadgin
howl yer wisht

smashey · 24-05-2011 6:33pm

Ye tube ye

shogunpower · 24-05-2011 8:38pm

oul dog for the hard road, and the pup for the foot path....

sweet girl · 24-05-2011 8:52pm

Toul. As in "Now dont say ye werent toul" (sp??)

Aligator Farmer · 25-05-2011 10:29am

Here's one my Dad uses, which roughly translates as "He hasn't much common sense"

"He's a spoon fed gulpin"

Carrickman · 25-05-2011 8:35pm

It's cat since the dog died.

mamakevf · 25-05-2011 8:49pm

Kwet footerin' wi yersel.:D

EAFC_rdfl · 26-05-2011 2:46pm

'clouster' is a good wan. i mind lads from killybegs not even knowin what it meant.
its wile handy as can cover a lot of situations, mainly for somebody thats awkward or messy.
for flukes sake is another one. abeen the road = above the road

muffler · 26-05-2011 5:28pm

St. Johnston/Porthall people have some weird pronunciations. Its a half Scottish dialect. You would hear them say something like "Its aye raining" (its always raining) and things like boards and doors are pronounced bourds and dours or dowers! Instead of saying "you're wrong" they would say "yer wrang"

Puts me in mind of a guy who went into a little bakery shop in St. Johnston and was looking at the selection of lovely things on display. He seen a couple of items that caught his eye and pointing at them he asked the girl who was working....."Is that a gateaux or a meringue" The girl looked at him and said "No, you're right"

(think about it)

North_West_Art · 26-05-2011 6:42pm

whats the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney?

A: Bing sings, but Walt Disney

padd b1975 · 26-05-2011 6:49pm

I lived up there for a year in mid 90s, a popular one i remember for driving fast was " stagin" .

Ave Sodalis · 26-05-2011 10:02pm

Jaysus, the half of these I didn't even realise they were only said in Donegal

It's no wonder I got rare looks the last day!

The only one I pulled up about was when I said ''Awk it's grand'' to someone from England.

muckish · 26-05-2011 10:21pm

Driving directions fray Manor heading tay Newton

fontanalis · 26-05-2011 10:29pm

I suppose it's as good a place as any

A Ballybofey man is on mastermind and it's his turn for his special subject. Magnus Magnusson welcomes Mr Doherty to the hot seat;

"So Mr Doherty you have chosen Jazz as your special subject, are you ready"
"Sure am sir"
First question "What was the name of Miles Davis' first album?"
"Don't know sir"
Second question "What was the name of the famous Jazz Club in New York that gave it's name to one of that citys nick names?"
"I couldn't tell you sir"
Doherty keeps getting bombared with really difficult questions on jazz and gets none right.

The buzzer goes and Magnus Magnsusson announces that Mr Doherty scored zero points.

The camera stops rolling and Magnus Mgnusson says "excuse me Mr Doherty but I fond it unusual you didn't get any of your specialist questions right, do you know anything about Jazz?"

Mr Doherty says "aye jazz sir, that film with the big shark sure I seen it about a hundred times"

eskimocat · 26-05-2011 11:39pm

sup_dude wrote: »

Jaysus, the half of these I didn't even realise they were only said in Donegal It's no wonder I got rare looks the last day!

The only one I pulled up about was when I said ''Awk it's grand'' to someone from England.

I thought that for years!! still get caught out with people asking what am i saying!! then add in a smattering of irish into the mix and you get some really funny looks...

Thought on another one, Donegal got a right pasting... during the storm

Rds1989 · 27-05-2011 12:13am

Wow i havent checked on this thread in a few days, great response guys. We sure do have some weird words and phrases. Does anyone know if it any of them come from ulster scots or donegal irish

muffler · 27-05-2011 9:29am

Howl yer whisht (be quiet)

Durnish · 27-05-2011 10:59am

aren't the ones like didny canny, wasny etc all Ulster-Scatty, from the Laggan area, good farmland round the Finn, Foyle and so on? Some of the western stuff is from Glasgae dialect, like fiddle music it's all interlinked, say vray? (UlsterFrench) . Then there's Irish sentence construction and stopping, like like, but, hi.

shogunpower · 27-05-2011 1:16pm

where ye fray,
porthaall,
hows yer purdies?
big or smaall?
how de ye eat them?
skins n aaall.
where ye fray?
porthaall

slimboyfat · 27-05-2011 5:13pm

Sure its a grand soft day.

sweet girl · 28-05-2011 10:53am

Im not sure if this one has been posted before,"sure im only taking a hand at ya"

muffler · 28-05-2011 2:04pm

shogunpower wrote: »

where ye fray,
porthaall,
hows yer purdies?
big or smaall?
how de ye eat them?
skins n aaall.
where ye fray?
porthaall

Long time since I heard that

Penfailed · 28-05-2011 9:50pm

shogunpower wrote: »

porthaall

'cuse my ignorance. Where's Portaall?

muffler · 28-05-2011 10:19pm

Penfailed wrote: »

'cuse my ignorance. Where's Portaall?

Porthall is the proper title but gemerally called Poorthaall by the locals.

Its about 3 miles from Lifford on the St. Johnston road - google link

The Mary Clarke · 29-05-2011 12:01am

sweet girl wrote: »

Im not sure if this one has been posted before,"sure im only taking a hand at ya"

Yeah I would definitely consider that "Donegal". I am a blow in for the past eleven years and only heard this used by Donegal people.
One that really got me was "Starved".
I worked in a fish factory when I first came here. One evening we had to work late and one of the guys said to me "I'm starved"...I told him not to worry that I had loads of extra sandwiches and that he was more than welcome to them:o:o...He just meant that he was cold!
Some of the sayings I have seen posted on here I have heard in other parts of Ireland so I would not say that they are just Donegal Slang but others...damn I almost needed a translator when I moved here first

Great County and Great people though:):)

retalivity · 29-05-2011 3:26am

yer some uasceain
wrote aff
Inta the tide withem!

Dr. Fell · 29-05-2011 12:20pm

byte wrote: »

"the Gap"

Pronounced "The Geap"

Delber · 30-05-2011 2:29pm

What about "Young Cutty" for a girl or a "wheen" for a few or just plain old "SIR"

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 01-06-2011 5:10pm

Twas tight goin' sir

Aye that cuttys wile door

No harm to you but.....(said when theres bad news on the way)

Put you that there pint down hai

odonnellcarey · 01-06-2011 9:38pm

unknownlegend wrote: »

Also very confusing to people in Dublin in my experience is denoting your shopping as "messages", eg "got a few bags of messages in dunnes earlier". It's like speaking in tongues when ya speak fast on a phone to a local I'm told :pac:

Have to disagree with that. Messages is a common term for groceries in Dublin.

North_West_Art · 01-06-2011 10:34pm

just thought Id mention, in case anyone didn't know, that 'messages' refers to actual written messages that people would have left for each other in the local shop years ago in days before the telephone..

Madam · 02-06-2011 11:07am

quare

As in 'how's the quare one the day?'(does that mean 'odd' or something else, never could understand that one?) or how about 'It's a quare day the day'.

sesswhat · 02-06-2011 12:21pm

Madam wrote: »

quare

As in 'how's the quare one the day?'(does that mean 'odd' or something else, never could understand that one?) or how about 'It's a quare day the day'.

'Tis a quare day alright'. Quare would usually just mean 'great' if you are talking about weather, pirties, or various body parts

.

The 'quare one' or 'quare fella' on the other hand is just a version of queer, or as you say, odd. This would be common enough through the country.

Madam · 02-06-2011 2:35pm

The 'quare one' or 'quare fella' on the other hand is just a version of queer, or as you say, odd. This would be common enough through the country.[/QUOTE]

Oh I see, time to get the cousins back for asking that of my brothers(meaning me - I was very quiet as a teenager);)

shogunpower · 03-06-2011 8:21pm

the qwuer one doesnt have anything to so with queer, its like saying, yer mans a qwuer buck, which means that yer man is sum buck..

Penfailed · 04-06-2011 12:18am

Great thread. Most of the slang isn't exclusive to Donegal though. Very few IMHO. 'yock' instead of car is definitely in there though

Cee-Jay-Cee · 05-06-2011 1:04pm

Theres a wile droot on me - I'm very thirsty
Pishin wi rain - Pouring rain
Pure scundered/scunnerd - Really pee'd off.

When i was at school there was a lot of slang used, dont know if it was a letterkenny thing or county wide, some that i remember

Makes - money
Yaks/Nyaks - cigarettes
Staish - look
Minx - travellers
Strides - trousers
Shades - guards
Chats - Breasts/Boobs (as in staish the chats on yer doll!)
Sketch - Run (usually when you were found doing something wrong)

mamakevf · 05-06-2011 3:43pm

Wer 'r ye fray?(Where are you from?)
Up abeen Corky (I'm from Corky)
Aye, deed sowl sur. (Ah yes, I know where you are from now):D

mikedone · 06-06-2011 1:33am

Bastes: Cattle as in "Hae ye ony bastes?" "Damn a wan an' Ah got rid o' the animals as well" the animals were sheep
Miggy: Hat particularly the "beany"
Stabs: Fence posts. This caused an English colleague of mine a lot of confusion when he was putting up a fence at his home and the delivery man told him he had "the load o' stabs ye ordered"
Thonner: There as in "It's ower thonner agin the stab"
Thole: Suffer or endure
Gimp: Demeanor particularly if one is suspicious as in "Ah don't trust the gimp on thon boy"
Footy: Can mean small or frail depending on context "Thon's a wile footy wain" "Poor auld Paddy he's got wile footy the last wheen o' days

And last but not least a wonderful expression I have never heard anywhere else regarding a deceased person "I hope (s)he is happy"

Porter986 · 06-06-2011 9:30am

Naw ta tall - (not at all)

CSU · 06-06-2011 9:37am

was in Bunbeg for a weekend ( kicking town):D

Pub sign read - "NO RUMMERS ALLOWED"

mamakevf · 06-06-2011 5:41pm

^^^^ Probably meant 'No Runners allowed' ie.trainers/sneakers.
At first I thought there might have been something wrong with the 'R'.:D

Best Donegal Slang

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