# Irish Slang



## Sean (21 Mar 2004)

[broken link removed]


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## ajapale (22 Mar 2004)

I found this site very entertaining and accurate.

I would add the following:

couple: three, four or more.
a few: a lot, as in "there was a fair few at the funeral"
wild: very, as in "them are wild tame pigeons"
gat (n): alcohol in Tralee
gatty (drunk): drunk in Tralee
pavee, pabee: a memeber of the travelling community (sometimes derogatory depending on the context)
feeling no pain: very drunk
Maith go Leor (maw-guh-lore): very drunk

Any more suggestions?

Ajapale


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## True Blue (22 Mar 2004)

Waterford slang...

Lack .... as in girlfriend

Head of gabbage......... idiot

Gowler....... as in messer/prangster

Off the shelf or from the freezer...... as in hot or cold when asking for a bottle of beer

Aw white boy/girl...... how ya doing

Hicks.. as in country folk/students

locked.. as in drunk


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## ajapale (22 Mar 2004)

Hi True Blue,

Speaking of Waterford slang have you the experssion "BoJanter"? I think it is a large bottle of Beer. And how about Blah? Is this a kind of bread? Also there is a faintly obsene term in Waterford for large sausages but I dont know what it is.

In Limerick what is a "Lachico" or "Lachi" ?

In the west of Ireland I have heard the expression "cut-jack" meaning a fool from a castrated male donkey.

Ajapale


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## True Blue (22 Mar 2004)

Yes blah or Blaa is a king of bread/bun.. unfortunately they seem to be going out now.

I don't know what Bojanter is and as for a large sausage -could it be langer? But I don't think langer is unique to Waterford.


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## ajapale (22 Mar 2004)

*Waterford Slang*

[broken link removed]


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## Miner (22 Mar 2004)

Transmoggified - very drunk

Well - Tipperary slang which covers a multitude!
(Hello - well, how are you - well, did you do that yet - well)


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## Dr Moriarty (22 Mar 2004)

*Re: Limerick Slang*

Afaik, "latchie" comes from "latch-key" — as in kids who have to let themselves in with their own one, 'cause their parents aren't home...

Another charming term of abuse in a city where "verbal violence" is distinctly frowned on — as far as I can see.

But then I'm only a dirty foul-mouthed Jackeen blow-in...  

I like "laner", too (reference to the mazes of lanes connecting the estates in the older working-class areas of town)  

N.B. Only people who can trace their Limerick roots back three generations or more are allowed use the derogatory term "stabbers"...

Dr. M.


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## kerryman (23 Mar 2004)

*slang*

In Knsale there was a word like    "achair"   meaning  hello!


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## Ballixof (23 Mar 2004)

*slang*

I would (in my expertise on this subject) say that this is derived from the Irish for friend : chára
There is a form of greeting used in a few places in Ireland " Hows me Mocker" or just plain "Mocker" which also has its foundations in Irish from mo chára pronounced mokkara.


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## ajapale (23 Mar 2004)

*Re: slang*

Hi Ballixof,
This  is a very credible explaination. I wonder if it is related to the australian slang 'ocker'?
Ajapale


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## Leatherarse (25 Mar 2004)

*Re: slang*

Ajapale, I too would agree with Ballixoff, there are many words in common usage in the English language that had their roots in Irish, also with regards to your question I would say that it too came from the Irish language ,considering the huge number of Irish that were transported there a couple of centuries ago or even less. If you are starting a letter in Irish, you say a chára (meaning friend) so I would say that is where the Aussie term ocker came from,I could also be wrong.


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## Natchessmen (26 Mar 2004)

*Re: slang*

My favouite Irish import to English is: to put the *kaibosh* on something i.e put a stop to something.  Comes from the Irish *Cuirim caip bas air*  I put the death cap on it.


(sorry can't do a fada does any one know how to put one in??)

Nat


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## True Blue (26 Mar 2004)

*Re: slang*

HTML Comments are not allowed


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## Elcato (26 Mar 2004)

*Re: fada*

alt-Gr + vowel


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## ajapale (27 Mar 2004)

*HTML Comments are not allowed - Your point is?*

True Blue said:


> HTML Comments are not allowed


What is your point TB?
Ajapale


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## The Aurelian (3 Apr 2004)

*Re: HTML Comments are not allowed - Your point is?*

I've hardly ever heard anyone use rhyming slang in Ireland.

"Not the Mae West" is the only exception I can think of.


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## ajapale (3 Apr 2004)

*Re: slang*

Natchessmen,

Kaibosh = caipin bais : death cap. Very interesting. If you do a Google search the sponsored link to the left reads:



> The Ultimate Yiddish Site
> Machers.com - Kosher Database
> Street Tours, 6000+ Sites & More
> www.machers.com



Kaibosh certainly _sounds_ yiddish

The Aurelian,

I have never heard rhyming slang in Kerry but have heard a lille in Dublin JoMaxi being the most common.


More Irish Slang here: 

And finally the Limerick / Dublin Slang translator (not complete but has the odd laugh)www.angelfire.com/ak3/the...s/tbl.html

Ajapale


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## ajapale (4 Apr 2004)

*didgeridoo = "dúdaire" "dubh" =black pip*

*didgeridoo*


> What could be more Australian than the droning sound of this native instrument? Yet there's a linguistic mystery about it. Firstly, the name isn't recorded in Australian English until 1919, astonishingly late. And it isn't Aboriginal - native names include "yidali", "illpera" and "bombo", but nothing that sounds even vaguely like "didgeridoo". Lexicographers have traditionally got round this by saying it is imitative, but "didgeridoo" bears scant relation to the noise the instrument makes. Now Dymphna Lonergan, currently working on a PhD thesis about the Irish influence on Australian English, may have solved the problem. Her theory appeared in Australian newspapers six months ago, and is reported in more detail in the current issue of Ozwords, published by the Australian National Dictionary Centre. She points to a possible Irish source in two words "dúdaire" and "dubh". Gaelic spelling is in a class by itself: the words are actually said rather like "doodjerreh" and "doo". The first means "trumpeter"; the second means "black". Put them together (adjective following noun in Gaelic) and you get a phrase that means "black trumpeter" and which sounds remarkably like the instrument's name.


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