Appendix:Glossary of Hiberno-English slang and jargon
Appearance
Ireland is known to linguists as having a great variance in colloquial slang from area to area, despite Ireland's relatively small population of just over four million. Irish English draws from both the English language and the Irish language (Gaelic). Note: some words aren't strictly slang but more a different pronunciation, and word pronunciation and use vary GREATLY around Ireland.
General slang
[edit]- acting the maggot - Acting Up, misbehaving.
- acting up - Misbehaving.
- arsing around - Doing nothing.
- banjaxed (adjective) - Broken beyond repair.
- boy - Generally used at the end of a sentence. No particular meaning, an exclamation. Commonly heard in County Cork. Not gender specific. eg "I was langered last night, boy!", "It's freezin' out today, boy!"
- class (adjective) - cool/very good.
- c'mere - 'come here'-attempting to get somebody's full attention.
- conkers (noun) - seeds of the horse chestnut tree. Used in a childhood game.
- craic - Many uses, usually fun time and good conversation. E.g. " The craic was mighty last night!".
- culchie - An unsophisticated rural dweller.
- deadly - Brilliant
- eejit - Idiot
- feck - similar to fuck but not as offensive
- flat out - to be very busy or to be continually doing something ie."I was flat out boozing over the weekend"
- gall - fuck all
- gobshite - Someone who talks rubbish, gob meaning mouth shite meaning shit. Also meaning a stupid person or an eejit, as in "he's some gobshite"
- got me hole - Had sex, to say "got me hole last night" would mean "I had sex last night"
- grimes - dead, gone
- grimesyard - graveyard
- I'm bleeding planking it - I am quite nervous
- in a ball - To be extremely drunk
- Jackeen - Dubliner (mildly mocking).
- fanta - Red-haired person with an attitude.
- knacker (silent K) - derogatory name for members of the travelling community, also implies deliquescence from working-class youth
- lushing - Going out and getting drunk. - "Lets go lushing!"
- man lad - good man
- monan - shit
- pikey/tinker/gypsy - A member of the travelling community. (The first two are derogatory.)
- pile - a lot
- pissed off - Annoyed.
- pissed - Drunk or Annoyed.
- pitch - To throw something.
- playin' away - Meaning a person is having an affair or cheating "He's playin' away]] - They're having an affair or cheating on their boy/girlfriend
- run amok - Crazy with anger.
- scoop/jar - A pint.
- slagging/ripping it out of/rippin the piss]] - To ridicule/mock/make fun of e.g.He's ripping it out of John means He's making fun of John
- sound - Adjective used to say that a person is of good character and a worthwhile individual.
- tae, cha, scaw, scald - Tea.
- taking the mick - to mock someone
- teague - massive head, or legend
- the pictures - the cinema
- tick - Annoyed or angry with another person
- warnock - of the coloured persons
- well - said continuously in WATERFORD, NAVAN, SLIGO, LONGFORD, LAOIS, NENAGH and LIMERICK comes from the saying 'are you well' or "Hello".
- wellies - Wellington Boots, often also called Russian boots.
Belfast Slang
[edit]- lawd - a man can be used in a greating, "what’s the crack lawd"
- will you c him ? - to kiss someone !
- (he/she/that/this) does my head in - "Drives me up the wall, irritates me.
- aah gee - a response to someone doing somethin stupid to mock them
- all the best! - Good-bye, wishing you all the best.
- aye - Yes
- bad craic - That's not good
- ball beg - ones testicles
- Baltic - freezing
- barcode - Refers to teenage moustaches with contain only a few hairs on either side of the mouth, hence the term "barcode".
- barneys, disco Biscuits, donaghdees, smarties, bumbles, bumble bee - terms for XTC
- bender - homosexual
- blocked - To be intoxicated with alcohol.
- cacks - Ones underpants
- catch yerself on - Realise that you are talking nonsense please.
- cheerio - Goodbye
- cheers, thankin' you - a few ways to say thanks
- cracker - class
- dander - Go for a walk or or how a person walks (look at his dander)
- dead on - Great. Perfect, Really nice. (Often used to describe people.)
- eejit - An idiot. For example, the above slang terms were coined by an eegit.
- feel wick - you should be embarrassed
- nie - now
- flat out with the tits out, flat out with the cock out - working hard or doing something longer than usual
- fook - slang for Fuck
- fruit - Someone who is weak nerdy or homosexual
- giv er dixie - continue what you are currently doing with the same level of enthusiasm
- geg - a funny time/person (to have a geg)(that wee girl is a geg)
- great - Can mean attractive
- gutties/guddys - sport shoes
- head melter/melter - someone annoying
- hippy - Somone who listens to rock music, has a full time job and usually keeps themselves to themselves. A.K.A The Belfast meaning for Hippy is the complete opposite of the actual term hippy. The term is not insulting if directed to rock fans and is quite amusing as it is totally ironic.
- Hun - A British person, Protestant.
- is that you? - asking if you've finished whatever you're doing.
- janto - usually a spide. Used more certain parts of the city
- keep her lit - basically keep doing what your doing, but phrase used by joyriders while spinning about
- like - this is not a slang but its used in many sentences ("like ya know what i mean")
- lit to the tit - off your head on drugs
- Mexicans - people living in the Republic of Ireland i.e. "south of the border"
- Mickey D's - Mc Donalds
- millie - A name to describe working class females. The word "millie" comes from the girls who worked in the linen mills.
- orange bake - describing a millies face (fake tan)
- Papa Doc - Rev. Ian Paisley, a Unionist politican
- peelers, scum, 5.0. black bastards - the police.
- poke - Ice cream cone
- put yer foot down - Go faster in an automobile
- skint - Haven't got any money
- skundered - really embarrassed
- smicker - (known in England as chavs) - A young teenage/adult male usually from a working class area.
- snattered - To be intoxicated with alcohol.
- somethin shockin - In need of somethin despertaly e.g I need a shower somethin shockin
- spide - chavs in Belfast
- steamin' - To be intoxicated with alcohol
- stoley - used by joyriders to describe the car they stole the night before
- swall - to go out and get drunk (to go out for a "swall") (to get a "swall")
- the big Doc - Slang in reference to Rev Ian Paisley
- The Dev - The Devenish, a pub/resturant in Belfast in the west of the city
- tout - someone who tells
- tube - Idiot.
- up da duff/stout - pregnant
- ur da - term used to make fun of a persons father, that the person making fun, may or may not want to have sexual relations with.
- what about ye'? - How are you
- what's the craic - Any news,or any excitement/fun
- wind yer neck in - Don't be so cocky/confident; calm down.
- wise up - Stop talking nonsense.
- yer ma - When referring to another person's mother.
- your man/your woman - That man/woman
- you're pollaxed - You're very drunk.
Dublin Slang
[edit]- ages - long time
- aul fella/ol' lad/ol' man - Father
- aul one - Mother or sometimes any mature woman.
- barry - a shit "I’m going to take a barry"
- bate - beat someone up
- be wide - Be careful or wary.
- culchie/bogger/mucker/muck Savage - a rough unsophisticated country/rural person
- cute Hoor - Someone who quietly has one up on everyone
- D4/D4 head - A term used to describe upper class people, derives from the cliche of D4/Dublin 4 post code being quite wealthy, also a particular mindset associated with people from that area of Dublin
- deadly/whopper/rapid/gift - good
- disco biscuits - Ecstasy tablets
- dope/sap/spa - Idiot
- Dubes - Dubarry Deck shoes, shoes which are stereotypically characterized with D4's
- Dutchie - Dutch Gold, a very cheap imported lager so it appeals to youths
- fair play/fair balls - well done/congratulations
- fairly good - Derived from the 1st generation Paul Duffy, from Duleek, Navan. Meaning things are going quite well, or fairly good!!
- fridgid - person who has never French kissed
- gargle/scoops - Drink (alcohol)
- gawk - to look at. Also used as the verb to get sick.
- gayface - Someone who is gay and does not hide it.
- gaff - House or house party
- gee (pronounced with a hard G) - Vagina
- Ginger (pronounced with a hard G, rhymes with "singer") - ginger minger, i.e. ugly red-haired girl
- [[give her/him one]] - Have sex with her/him
- hoop - One's rear end, ie. "How's yer Hoop? - How is your backside?
- howya - How Are You?
- I'd bleedin' lash her outta it - Shows one's eagerness to have sexual relations with a young upstanding female.
- jam jar - a car
- Jaysus! - Used as an exclamation. Different pronunciation of "Jesus!" but is regarded as slang
- Joe Maxi - Rhyming slang for Taxi. Joe Maxi was a popular children's programme in the late 80s early 90s
- Joe - Cannabis.
- keeping sketch - To be a look-out for 'authority figures'
- kip/dive/dump/tip - a place that is unappealing
- knacker 'tasch - Refers to teenage moustaches with contain only a few hairs on either side of the mouth. Insulting to the attempted grower.
- knob end - Putdown indicating homosexuality or idiocy.
- langer - Male Genetalia. Can refer to a person as an offensive term. (e.g. "You are a langer" = "You are acting like a cock")
- law - Member of the An Garda Síochána (Irish Police Force)
- legend - great person (can also be used to describe a great place or thing; sometimes used as adjective e.g. "that party was legend")
- locked/buckled/gargled/scuttered - Drunk
- meet/shift/go off with - French kiss
- micky/knob - Penis
- muff - Vagina
- on the lash - A heavy nights drinking
- one - woman
- pill head - Someone who enjoys consuming Yips
- pukin' me ring - To be getting sick very heavily/for a long period of time
- roysh - A term used usually in a mocking fashion of the way D4's/D4 heads say the word right eg. 'yeah roysh'-yeah, right. Originated in stories by Paul Howard about Ross O'Carroll Kelly.
- shaggy - a word used for a long haired person
- sham - A person from a middle class/upper class background trying to act working class in order to make themselves appear tougher.
- Shaned himself - someone who shit themselves
- skanger - is a generally term of abuse for a Dubliner of a working class background who has a particular style of dress.
- sketch/scatter! - Someone coming: teacher, police etc. used primarily by youths
- slapper - slut
- stall it - wait; when used with "to" e.g. "Stall it to X - come to X
- stroke - to rob something i.e. "stroked jammer" - (robbed car)
- Tim Tiddle - Going to the toilet to urinate e.g. "I'm goin for a Tim Tiddle I'm bleedin burstin!"
- tub - Cheap Larger, popular with the Young
- up the duff/duffed - Pregnant
- wacker - An idiot
- wagon - An easy or slutty woman "everybody's ridden the wagon"
- what's the story? - How are you? Can be shortened to "Story?" as a question. Rhyming slang is "Jackanory". Which cannot be shortened. You can say "Story Jonno?" but would need to ask "What's the Jackanory?"
- wide - Knowledgeable, aware of what's going on
- YIP's - Ecstasy pills
- yoke - Any thing (usually used if the person can't remember the name of something). Also a slang term for Ecstasy pills and condoms.
- young one - A young girl, usually in her teens but when used in the possessive sense refers to someone's daughter.
Derry Slang
[edit]- mean lad - I know what you mean
- monan - shit
- pile lad - a lot
- saunter - basically fuck off - "Saunter on mate"
- couldn't be arsed, hi - expression of indifference.
Munster Slang
[edit]- bhoy - doesn't always mean anything when used in a sentence, simply used to cap a sentence off.
- brassed off - annoyed
- beoir - A very good looking young woman. eg-"Oh look at her lads she's a beoir!"
- come er ta me - (Come Here To Me ) means - Excuse me?
- langer - penis or idiot
- langered - Intoxicated beyond return
- looder - loser
- manky - Dirty, awful.
- moolah - Money, Cork origin
- muppet - Idiot.
- savage - meaning very good or great
- septic - in love with oneself - wouldn't pass a mirror without looking in it!
- We-lllll - Hello, pleasure to met you.
- ya wouldn't kick spuds to ducks - Hello there my friend, in my opinion you are useless at everything you do in every conceivable way - Tipperary origin
- ya wud yeah - (You Would Yeah) means - You wouldn't dare!
Connacht Slang
[edit]- Bertie - cool, good e.g. "Aah Bertie Man! - "That's cool". Castlebar origin
- bite the back of me bollox - expression used to tell someone to go away
- bollox - Scrotum. Also used to refer to something or someone that is distasteful. i.e, "I will in me bollox- "I will not", "That's bollox"- "That's not good" or "He/She is a bollox" - "He/She is not a nice person"
- buff - someone living in country area. (Origin: Sligo)-(See also Culchie)
- collie - duck
- dart - An attractive upstanding female
- howsa' goin - Galway pronunciation of How is it going?
- let ye - A term used at the end of many sentences as a form of intent e.g. Lets go to mass let ye
- pure stones - A term used at the end of a sentence to signal your extreme displeasure at a certain event's outcome e.g. I scored two own goals, that's pure stones. It can also be used to describe someone who is unappealing, e.g. Jim is pure stones
- savage - Excellent, very good, cool. "Aah Savage Man!"
- sham - Cool person (the Carrick shams).
- sow dog - An unattractive woman or someone who is unappealing to others
- stones - A term used at the end of a sentence to signal your displeasure at a certain event's outcome e.g. I scored an own goal, stones.
- that's the beegees (pronounced "be--jeez"), ha. That's for sure, ha!!- Dixon upon hearing staying alive on the radio. Is now used to show approval at a certain outcome or event
- well boi - What's up. Commonly used in Sligo
Waterford
[edit]Colloquialism | Definition | Alternative |
---|---|---|
Well boy/girl | Hello; How Are You | Well butty? |
Whoolyback | Someone from a rural area (countryside) | |
shellakybooky | snail | |
Eddie Batt (as verb) | command to put a jinx on someone "Eddie Batt, boy" | |
de lack | my girlfriend | |
up the deise | up Waterford | |
gallybander | catapult, typically made from rubber bands | |
red lead | luncheon sausage | |
Stall (as verb) | to kiss | |
cat malogan | terrible | |
I'm well I am | "I agree" | |
blaa | a soft bread roll; also a person from Waterford |