Top of the morning to you Er hello?
You see here, that’s a wile place for to put that there.
What?
Are you an edgit?
Stop futtering about and get ‘er down!
Your nuts, I am just going to go now…
Don’t you turn you back on me, thems fighting words, many a man's mouth broke his nose
Ahhh!
Me lucky charms!!!
Ireland is a strange place for many reasons!
It’s the only place which has a national drink which no one really drinks and the only
place where rolling a stone down the street is a competitive sport!
Another oddity is that despite our island having its own language of Gaelic the vast
majority of people only speak English.
But it is not just normal English! we put our own twist on the language! and in this
episode we are going to look at some common words and phrases we use in Ireland, north
and south.
So lets get going: Craic
Everyone who knows anything about Ireland knows the word: Craic – which basically
means something between fun, news or gossip.
Craic is nearly always used with the article ‘the’ and used in sentences like:
What’s the craic?
– meaning what’s going on Much craic?
– what’s the news It was some craic! – it was good fun
Most people, including the Irish themselves think that the word is an Irish one, but it
actually originally comes from English.
The word crack is derived from the Middle English word crak, meaning "loud conversation
or bragging talk" – so the modern meanings of fun, news and gossip make sense, as when
you think of having craic you generally think of a noisy environment!
Wile Another common word in the north of the island
is the word wile – pronounced the same as, and often confused with the word while.
This word is used a wile lot!
And basically means very or bad.
This can be confusing for other native English speakers, let alone anyone who speaks English
as a second language.
Here are some example sentences: It’s a wile day – meaning the weather
is bad He is a wile man – he is a bad or stupid
man That’s a wile lot – that is a lot
That’s wile – that’s awful Keep ‘er lit
This phrase comes from the same sort of thought process as common English expressions about
lighting up an engine etc.
This phrase is really common in the north west of the island and basically means keep
going or good luck depending on the situation.
So, for instance, if you are working hard on something, someone might say “keep er
lit” as encouragement.
Or after being out with someone they might shout ‘keep er lit’ as they are going
away meaning all the best!
Aye and Naw In Ireland its common for people to say aye
instead of yes and naw instead of no.
Aye and naw are also used as thinking words for to fill gaps in conversations:
So if you ask your friend ‘do you want to get something to eat?’
They might respond with ‘naw, aye sounds like a good idea” or “aye, naw I am not
hungry”.
The rule for this is that generally, the last word used is the answer to the question.
Words for ‘you’ (plural): In Ireland, we use the word ‘you’ like
every other part of the English speaking world, but we don’t often use it as a plural word.
Instead we have a number of other words for to express the plural of you.
In some parts of Ireland, we use the old English word Ye as the plural of you; and it’s quite
common in schools or meetings for the speaker to open by saying ‘good morning to ye’
– meaning good morning to you all Another plural for the word you is youse and
another is yousins!
Egit This one is really common!
Pronounced eejit this world just means idiot and is commonly used along with the word big,
for instance in the sentence: You big egit!
Slainte Finally a really important word for those
of you who go to pubs is the word cheers or Slainte.
This is a Gaelic word which just means cheers and it used through the island in near enough
ever pub (just don’t say it in unionist ones!)
This is hard word to say, but is pretty much pronounced – slon-cha
Well did you know any of these?
Or are there more you would add to the list?
Well leave us a comment and let us know!
And if you come from somewhere which has its own unique phrases why not tell us as well!
Thanks for watching!
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