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Irish Slang

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  • 02-12-2011 10:49pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 6


    Are there any irish slang terms? Things like trek, spa, man, that kinda stuff (I'm trying to keep things PG for now...). I'm not looking for direct translations, like 'Dia Dhuit, fear!" or anything, when i was interrailing a few years ago we just made up our own, like 'ba mhaith liom a fhuinneog a brhiseadh"

    (im sure that was spelt atrociously, im trying to get back into things)


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 608 ✭✭✭mr chips


    Lots! Tbh I have no clue what trek means apart from a long and arduous journey or something you do on a pony, in which case it's "fálróid". If you want an equivalent for "hey man", I'd usually say "bhuel a bhodaigh", or "bhuel a mhic".


  • Registered Users Posts: 6 Risico


    ok cool, what are a few other of the big ones?


  • Registered Users Posts: 608 ✭✭✭mr chips


    Well whaddya wanna know?


  • Registered Users Posts: 6 Risico


    hmmmm, i guess some of the main ones would be like
    mate
    legend
    getting locked
    get the shift
    lol
    spa
    and I'm not sure if boards.ie has a policy on swearing so i'll leave that lost out for now :P

    typing out slang really makes me feel like a spa :P


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 356 ✭✭hoorsmelt


    Risico wrote: »
    hmmmm, i guess some of the main ones would be like
    mate
    legend
    getting locked
    get the shift
    lol
    spa
    and I'm not sure if boards.ie has a policy on swearing so i'll leave that lost out for now :P

    typing out slang really makes me feel like a spa :P

    Well some swears would be 'cac' and 'feisigh do thóin féin' :pac:.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 608 ✭✭✭mr chips


    Must admit that while I'm a very sweary person, I'm not comfortable trying to translate words like spa, mong etc. But anyway, moving on -

    Mate - a chara / a stócaigh / a bhodaigh (latter two only for use with male friends!)

    legend - wouldn't be directly translated in the meaning of "your man's a legend", but laoch means hero and is often used in that sense. "Is tú mo laoch" would more or less equate to "you're a legend".

    getting locked - Irish words and phrases to do with drink are like Eskimos having terms relating to snow - there's loads to choose from, but a very common one that's probably closest in meaning is "bhí mé stiúgadh ólta" (dying drunk). Ar an drabhlás = on the p*ss. Dearg ar meisce = completely p*ssed. Tinneas póite = hangover.

    get the shift - hmm, there are a few phrases I've heard but I can only think of "póg" at the minute. I once heard something like "bhí mo theanga súite amach as mo chloigeann (the tongue was sucked out of my head), but I must admit that sounds more like a description of poor technique than a commonly used phrase ...
    "Bualadh craiceann" would more or less translate "riding" (literally "skin-slapping"), and "bualadh feola" is what you might end up doing if you don't make it that far. If you want to actually call someone a w*nker, you say "buailteoir feola". (NB a bra is a cíochbheart - literally, a package of tits!). Magairlí = balls.
    As well as being a word to mean party, festival, etc, "feis" means f*ck - as in "feisigh leat" (go f*ck yourself). Interestingly, the word for wedding, bainis, is derived from "bean fheis". Not a lot of people know that ....

    LOL - GOA (gáire os ard)


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,304 ✭✭✭✭Skerries


    would a bhodaigh be the origin for buddy?


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,008 ✭✭✭uch




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 902 ✭✭✭scholar007


    What does scaoil amach an bobalín mean?


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,857 Mod ✭✭✭✭Insect Overlord


    scholar007 wrote: »
    What does scaoil amach an bobalín mean?

    http://faxnews.tk/sports/soccer/25015/scaoil-amach-an-bobal-n/


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  • Registered Users Posts: 608 ✭✭✭mr chips


    Skerries wrote: »
    would a bhodaigh be the origin for buddy?

    Yup.
    bod (pronounced "budd") = ahem, male member :D
    bodach = person who is characterised by having one, i.e. a man

    So when addressing someone, "a bhodaigh" is more or less "man" - e.g. Bhuel a bhodaigh, caidé mar atá tú? = Hey man, how are you? Got anglicised over time by Irish emigrants.

    NB I think "sreang" can also be used for willy - literally means string/wire. Although I think it's also used in the term for umbilical cord ... yup, sreang imleacáin, literally "navel cord".


  • Registered Users Posts: 6 Risico


    coolafionnguala, these are some really good ones thanks :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭franc 91


    Gael (the moderator) has already posted this on the Forum - A (bilingual) Dictionary of Irish-English Slang by Garry Bannister - published by New Island (2008) - ISBN 978 1848400146


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