|
|
Irish Slang
Irish is a language in complete evolution and full of colourful expression typically-Irish (careful, this is quite different from typically-English). Here you have some suggestions to speak Irish with an attitude.cailín (colleen) - girl
cameón (come-on) - shape of ashwood stick used in the game of hurling.
carragheen - Dulce; edible seaweed.
céad míle fáilte (kay-ed mill-uh fault-chuh) - a hundred thousand welcomes. Literally translated, céad means hundred; míle means thousand; fáilte means welcome. Actually, it means, "Here comes another one".
ceilidh / ceili (kaylee) - friendly call, visit, social evening, dancing session.
diddleeidie (diddle-ee-aye-die) - traditional Irish music. "Were they playing rock and roll last night, or was it diddleeidie?"
Dub - native of Dublin (see also jackeen)
Fenian - (feenyun) Republican or revolutionary; after Fionn Mac Cumhaill, legendary warrior; a term (of abuse, if used by Loyalists) applied to nationalists or Republicans.
Gaybo - Gabriel "Gay" Byrne, universally-loved long-time host of The Late Late Show, Ireland's answer to The Tonight Show.
jackeen - a Dubliner. Dublin was always seen as the most "English" city in Ireland by provincials and this was coined as a term of derision stemming from the English flag, the Union Jack, by adding the diminuitive, -een. Literally, "Little Jack". Derived from "shoneen", a sort of "working-class West Brit".
poitin / poteen (poocheen) - literally, "little pot"; illicit moonshine whiskey.
seanachaí / seanachie (shanachie) - storyteller.
slán - healthy person; health; farewell. (slán go fóill! - so long; slán leat!, slán agat! - cheerio, farewell.)
sláinte - (slon-chuh) a toast - "to your health" or "cheers".
Taoiseach (thee shock) - Prime Minister. The "th" sound is as it's pronounced at the end of "with", not the beginning of "the".
Craic (pronounced crack) fun time
And to boast all your wisdom, in the following lines you will find two nice proverbs ("seanfhocal"):
Ní hé lá na báistí lá na bpáistí: A rainy day isn't a day for the children
This expression works nicely since the grammar makes "báistí" (rain) and "bpáistí" (children) sound the same.
Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat: May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat.