List of Irish slang

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Irish slang is slang used by the Irish.

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

Contents 1 Areas of varying slang 2 General slang 3 Dublin Slang 4 Munster Slang 5 Belfast Slang 6 Connaught Slang

[edit] Areas of varying slang

Note some words aren't strictly slang but more a different pronunciation word pronunciation and use vary GREATLY around Ireland. Irish English draws from both the English language and the Irish language(gaelic).

[edit] General slang

• "WELL" - said continously in NAVAN, comes from the saying 'are you well'.
• "Feck" - similar to Fuck but not seen as so offensive, safe for children to say.
• "Takin' the Mick" - Not taking things seriously
• "Conkers" - seeds of the horse chestnut tree. Used in a childhood game.
• "C'mere" - 'come here'-attempting to get somebody's full attention.
• "Tae" -Tea.
• "The Pictures" - the cinema
• "Knacker (silent K) /Pikey/Tinker - A member of the travelling community
• "Banjaxed" - Broken beyond repair
• "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.
• "Pissed off" - Annoyed.
• "Pissed" - Drunk or Annoyed.
• "Run Amok" - Crazy with anger.
• "Scoop/Jar" - A pint.
• "Class" - cool/very good
• "Wellys" -Wellington Boots, often also called Russian boots.
• "Pitch" - To throw something
• "Acting the maggot" -Acting Up, Misbehaving.
• "Acting up" -Misbehaving
• "Arsing around " - Doing nothing
• "Craic" - fun
• "Eejit" - Idiot
• "Gobshite" - Someone who talks rubbish, gob meaning mouth shite meaning shit.
• "Tick"- Annoyed or angry with another person
• "Deadly"- Brilliant
• "Jaffa" - Red-haired person with an attitude.
• "Lushing" - Going out and getting drunk. - "Lets go lushing!"
• "I'm bleeding planking it" - I am quite nervous

[edit] Dublin Slang

"Fairly Good" Derived from the 1st generation Paul Duffy, from Duleek, Navan. Meaning things are going quite well, or fairly good!!

• "Culchie/Bogger/Mucker/Muck Savage" - a country person
• "D4/D4 head" - A term used to describe upper class people, derives from the fact that the majority live in the D4/Dublin 4 post code area, also a particular mindset associated with people from that area of Dublin
• "Deadly/whopper/rapid/Gift" - good
• "Dope/Sap/Spa" - Idiot
• "Bate" - beat someone up
• "Dubes"- Dubarry Deck shoes, shoes which are stereotypically characterised with D4's
• "Dutchie" - Dutch Gold, a very cheap imported lager so it appeals to youths
• "Fair Play/Fair Balls" - well done/congratulations
• "Fridgid" - person who has never frenched kissed
• "Gargle/Scoops" - Drink (alcohol)
• "Gawk" - to look at. Also used as the verb to get sick.
• "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
• "Howya" - How Are You?
• "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
• "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.
• "Law" - Member of the Gardaí Siochana (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
• "One" - woman
• "On the Lash" - A heavy nights drinking
• "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
• "Sham" - A person from a middle class/upper class background trying to act working class in order to make themselves appear tougher.
• "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
• "Up the duff/Duffed" - Pregnant
• "Wagon" - A difficult or awkward woman "she's a right 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
• "Yoke" - Any thing (usually used if the person can't remember the name of something). Also a slang term for Ecstasy pills.
• "Young one" - A young girl, usually in her teens but when used in the possessive sense refers to someone's daughter.
• "Ages" - long time
• "Aul Fella/Ol' lad/Ol' man" - Father
• "Aul one" - Mother or sometimes any mature woman.
• "Be wide" - Be careful or wary.
• "Cute Hoor" - Someone who quietly has one up on everyone
• "I'd bleedin' lash her outta it" - Shows one's eagerness to have sexual relations with a young upstanding female.
• "Knob End"- Putdown Indicating Homosexuality or Just Plain Idiocy.
• "Pill Head"- Someone who enjoy's consuming Yips
• "YIP's"- Ecstasy Pills
• "Tub"- Cheap Larger, popular with the Young
• "Joe"-Term For Cannabis.
• "Gayface" - Term for someone who is gay and does not hide it.
• "Wacker" - Term used to describe an idiot namely Paul Kernan
• "Shaggy" - a word used for a long haired person.ie andrew kelly is a shaggy
• "Jammer" - a car
• "Stroke" - to rob something ie. "stroked jammer"- (robbed car)
• "Barry" - a shit "im going to take a barry"
• "Tim Tiddle" - Term used to describe going to the toilet to urinate e.g. "I'm goin for a Tim Tiddle I'm bleedin burstin!"

[edit] Munster Slang

• "Muppet" - Idiot.
• "Langer" - penis or idiot
• "Brassed off" - annoyed
• "Savage" - meaning very good or great
• "Come er ta me" - (Come Here To Me ) means - Excuse me?
• "Ya Wud Yeah" - (You Would Yeah) means - You wouldn't dare!
• "Bhoy" - doesn't always mean anything when used in a sentence, simply used to cap a sentence off.
• "Manky" - Dirty, awful.
• "Moolah" - Money, Cork origin
• "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
• "Fanny Cramp- A expression women get wen they don't exercise.
• "We-lllll"- Hello, pleasure to met you.
• "Fuckweed"- ~ (Danny Holland) a male with an exceptionally large head Origin: Nenagh.
• "Looder"- loser

[edit] Belfast Slang

• "Yer Ma" - When referring to another person's mother.
• "Blocked" - To be intoxicated with alcohol.
• "Millie" - Common working-class Belfast female.
• "Nah" - No.
• "Snattered" - To be intoxicated with alcohol.
• "Peelers" - meaning the police.
• "The Dev" - The Devenish.
• "Tube" - Idiot.
• "Wise Up" - Stop talking nonsense.
• "Feel Wick" - you should be embarrassed
• "Wind yer neck in" - Don't be so cocky/confident; calm down.
• "Catch yourself on" - Realise that you are talking nonsense please.
• "Ber Buck sake" - Slang for "for fuck sake"
• "Leoj" - Slang for "Sleezy Git"
• "Suckin' Diesel" - A term to mean "I'm ok" or "that's better", made known in the UK by Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray
• "What's the craic" - How are you
• "Nags"- Ones underpants
• "Dander" - Go for a walk
• "Bad craic" - Thats not good
• "the big Doc" - Slang in reference to Rev Ian Paisley
• "Ball Beg" - ones testicles
• "Cheerio" - Goodbye
• "Is that you - asking if you've finished whatever you're doing.
• "Dead on - Great. Perfect, Really nice. (Often used to describe people.)
• "He/she/that/this 'Does my head in.' - Drives you up the wall
• "Cheers, Thankin' you" a few ways to say thanks
• "Aye" - Yes
• "All the best!" - Good-bye, wishing you all the best.
• "Your man/woman" - That man/woman
• "Poke" - Ice cream cone

"You Aaron" - King of sleeze

[edit] Connaught Slang

• Howsa' goin" - Galway pronunciation of How is it going?

• Sow Dog- An unattractive woman or someone who is unappealing to others

• Dart- An attractive upstanding female

• Let Ye- A term used at the end of many sentences as a form of intent e.g. Lets go to mass let ye

• 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.

• 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

• Bertie - cool, good e.g. "Aah Bertie Man!" - "That's cool". Castlebar origin

• Savage - Excellent, very good, cool. "Aah Savage Man!"

• Bollox - Scrotum.

• Bite the back of me bollox - expression used to tell someone to go away

• Thats the beegees (pronounced "be--jeez"), ha. Thats for sure, ha!!- Dixon upon hearing staying alive on the radio. Is now used to show approval at a certain outcome or event