Glossary/Irish Slang
a bit of talent: a good-looking person. a forklift wouldn’t shift her: I’m not kissing her. a slab of beer: a box of 24 bottles of beer. allergic: can’t stand something/someone. the Angelus: every evening at 6pm in Ireland, there is a minute silence for prayer on the television. any chance of the ride: would you like to have sex with me. ask me bollox: politely no, and leave me alone. ask the back of me sack: I’m not doing it for you. as thick as two short planks: a stupid person.
ate the box off her: cunnilingus.
ate the head off me: told me off. away for slates: to do well. back her into me, Bridie: let’s have sex.
ball-hopper: a jokester.
balm out: to lie down and relax.
bang on: decent person/correct.
bate: exhausted. beor: a woman/girl. the best part of him ran down his mother’s leg: he’s a fool.
biro: ink pen.
bluey: porno movie.
bog roll: toilet roll.
the bog: the toilet.
bonnet: hood of the car.
boot: trunk of the car.
box of fags: packet of cigarettes.
box the head off ya: I will punch you.
break your melt: test your patience.
breast in a bun: chicken burger.
bulb off someone: look like someone.
Burdizzo: castration device. camogie: the female version of Hurling.
chancer: an opportunist.
Child of Prague: a religious statue farmers place out in a field to encourage good weather (an old Irish superstition). chipper: a restaurant that sells fast food.
Clonamore: town next to Ballylaggin. come here till I kill ya: come here and let me hit you.
cooker: oven/Stove/Hob.
cop on: behave yourself. corker: beautiful woman. couldn’t get his hole in a polo factory: unlucky in love.
cracking: brilliant.
crack on: do something/get going. craic: fun. the craic was ninety: Having a lot of fun and banter.
Culchie: a person from the countryside or a county outside of Dublin.
Usually used as a friendly insult.
cute hoor: a clever/slick person.
daft: silly.
daft as a brush: very silly.
deadly: great. dicky day: children’s allowance day. did you fla her last night: did you sleep with her. doing a foxer: working for cash in hand. doing a line: dating. dolled up to the nines: dressed up and looking good. don’t be scabby: don’t be mean. don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining: don’t lie to me. dosser: someone not doing what they should be doing.
drive on: keep going.
Dub: a person from Dublin. eejit: fool/idiot. ‘een’: added to the end of your name, usually by older relatives, ie; Johneen, Jackeen, Juleen, Mikeen, Tadhgeen. era/yerra: dismissing something.
Fair City: popular Irish television soap.
fair fucks to ya: well done. fair play: nice one.
fanny: vagina.
the fear: waking up with a hangover
feeking: having sex. feeling raw: feeling poorly. feis: a tradition Gaelic arts and culture festival/event.
fla: an attractive person. fortnight: two weeks. frigit: someone who has never been kissed.
funt up the hole: kick up the ass.
GAA: Gaelic Athletic Association.
gaff: house.
Gardaí Síochána: Irish police force.
Garda: policeman.
gas: funny.
gas man: funny man.
gatting: drinking.
getting the ride: having sex.
get your hole: have sex.
give us a sconce: let me see it.
the goolies: the testicles.
geebag: derogatory word for a woman.
giving out: scolding/complaining.
gobshite: fool/idiot. godloon sham: good lord man. going halves on a bastard: Having unprotected sex.
gowel: stupid person.
grinds: Tutoring.
hatchet craic: Great fun. haunted: lucky. haven’t seen ya in yonks/donkeys years: I haven’t seen you in a long time. he didn’t lick it off a stone: he’s like his family. he got a ration of passion last night: didn’t go all the way. he slipped her the mickey last night: he had sex with her last night. he thinks he’s the dogs bollocks: he loves himself. he’d drink it out of a wellington boot: an alcoholic. he’d drink the cross off a donkey: a heavy drinker.
he’d rob the eye out of your head and piss in the hole: don’t trust him. he’s A1: he’s a lovely person. he hasn’t hands to bless himself: he’s clumsy. he’s some me feiner: he’s self-absorbed.
hole: often said instead of ass/bottom.
houl your whisht: stop talking. how bad: that’s good. how’s a bit of your father: let’s have sex. how’s your belly for a lodger: having unprotected sex. hup out dat: good job, keep going. hurling: a hugely popular, amateur Irish sport played with wooden hurleys and sliotars. hurry up, will ya? my nan’s faster than ya and she’s ten years dead: speed up.
I hope you die roaring: I don’t like you.
I was christened, not pissed on: call me by my name.
I will in my hole, Jack Shea: I absolutely will not.
I will yeah: I absolutely won’t.
I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating a bag of crisps: he’s attractive.
I wouldn’t give ya the steam off my piss: I don’t like you.
I wouldn’t get up on him to get over a wall: an unattractive man.
I wouldn’t ride ya into battle: I don’t find you attractive.
I’d rather shit in my hands and clap: I’m not doing it.
I’ll lamp him: I’ll hit him.
I’ll leave your face like a painter’s radio: fellatio.
I’ll let you go: I’m finished talking to you.
I’ll redden your hole for ya: I will slap you.
I’m scarlet for ya: I’m embarrassed for you.
I’ve a crow to pluck with ya: you’re in trouble with me. if he fell into a barrel of tits, he’d come out sucking his thumb: he’s unlucky if I’d a garden full of mickeys, I wouldn’t let her look over the wall: I’m not attracted to her. if there was work in the bed, he’d sleep on the floor: lazy person. if wit was shit you’d be constipated: you’re not funny. if you fall off that wall and break your legs, don’t come running to me: a mother’s warning not to do something stupid.
Jackeen: a person from Dublin. A term sometimes used by people from other counties in Ireland to refer to a person from Dublin. the jacks: the bathroom. jagging: hooking up but not yet in a committed relationship.
jammy: lucky.
jammiest: luckiest.
jocks: men’s boxer shorts. jointed: a crowded place. junior cert: the compulsory state exam you take in third year—midway through your six-year cycle of secondary school.
jumper: sweater. kip: messy place. kit off/tog off: change into or out of training clothes.
knickers: women’s underwear. langer: idiot. langers: group of idiots and/or to be extremely drunk. laying pipe: having sex. leaving cert: the compulsory state exam you take in your final year of
secondary school.
leg it: run.
liathroidi: testicles.
lifted: arrested. like shit out of a goose: moving fast. living over the brush: living together but not married. lurching: wrapped around someone at the disco.
mank/manky: something disgusting.
massive: beautiful
meeting: kissing.
messages: groceries.
mickey ring: condom mickey/willy: penis. mind the pennies and the pounds will mind themselves: save your
money.
minerals/fizzy drinks: soft drinks
mog: an ugly person/stupid person. mope: idiot. nearly never bulled a cow: nearly doesn’t cut it.
not a hope: I’m not doing that. now you’re taking the hand: asking for too much.
odd with someone: being annoyed.
off your rocker: crazy person.
old doll/aul doll: wife/girlfriend.
on the hop: skipping school.
on the lash: on a night out drinking. on the piss: going out drinking. poitín: Irish version of moonshine/illegal, home-brewed alcohol.
pound shop: dollar store.
poxy: lucky. press: cabinet. primary school: elementary school—junior infants to sixth class. playschool: pre-school/nursery. junior infants: equivalent to kindergarten. senior infants: equivalent to second year of kindergarten. first class: equivalent to first grade. second class: equivalent to second grade. third class: equivalent to third grade. fourth class: equivalent to fourth grade.
fifth class: equivalent to fifth grade.
sixth class: equivalent to sixth grade.
puking your ring out: vomiting.
pure: very.
pure daycent: excellent.
pure scanty: extremely mean.
rank: not good.
raw baby: a brand-new baby.
Rebel County: nickname for County Cork.
relax. Johnny’s got ya covered: condom.
ridey: a good-looking person.
Rolos: popular brand of chocolate. rosary, removal, burial: the three days of a Catholic funeral in Ireland. runners: trainers/sneakers.
Sacred Heart: the name of Shannon, Joey, Darren, Claire, Caoimhe, Lizzie, Tadhg, Ollie, Podge, and Alec’s mixed primary school. same mare, different jockey: same mother, different fathers.
sap: sad/pathetic.
scaldy: something disgusting. scanty: doing something mean.
Scoil Eoin: the name of Johnny, Gibsie, Feely, Hughie, and Kevin’s all-
boys primary school.
scoring: kissing. scut: rascal. secondary school: high school—first year to sixth year. first year: equivalent to seventh grade. second year: equivalent to eighth grade. third year: equivalent to ninth grade. fourth year: transition year, equivalent to tenth grade. fifth year: equivalent to eleventh grade. sixth year: equivalent to twelfth grade. septic: someone horrible/vain. sesh: drinking session in a bar/house party with music. shades: police. she’d get up on a gust of wind: a promiscuous woman. she didn’t get those knees from saying prayers: promiscuous woman. she’d rip up the floorboards to get a bit of pipe: a promiscuous woman. she’d talk the hind legs off a donkey: a chatterbox. she had a face like a jockey’s bollocks, but you don’t look at the mantelpiece when you’re poking the fire: she was unattractive, but I
still went for it. shift/shifting: kissing. shifting jackets: lucky piece of clothing, usually a jacket, when trying to
pick up a girl.
shook: feeling sick/hungover. shook like a hand at mass: trembling. skip the fancy stuff and horse it into me: skip foreplay and have sex.
skitting: laughing. solicitor: lawyer. sound: another way to say cheers/a decent person.
spanner: idiot.
spuds: potatoes. stall the ball: hold on.
stick your mickey in your ear and shag some sense into yourself: cop on. stop crying or I’ll give ya something to cry about: a mother’s warning. strop: mood-swing/pouting/sulking.
St. Bernadette’s: the name of Aoife, Casey, and Katie’s all-girls primary school.
St. Stephen’s Day: Boxing Day/December 26th.
swot: nerd/academically gifted.
take a gander: take a look/walk.
that’s mint: that’s cool. that’s the berries: that’s great. there’s fierce taspy on that fella: that boy is a rascal. the tide wouldn’t take her out: an ugly person. turn on the heating: turn on the central heating in the house.
up the pole/poled: pregnant.
wedding tackle: penis.
well, fuck me sideways: I’m shocked. wellies: rubber boots worn in the rain. what’s on the menu? breakfast, lunch, and dinner: cunnilingus. wheelie bin: trash can. where ya born in a field: close the door. whisht: be quiet. will you go away with him: will you kiss him. will you meet my friend: will you kiss my friend.
will you shift her: will you kiss her. wise up: behave yourself with his lad out: with his penis on display. yer: your. yer wan would get up on a razor blade: a promiscuous woman.
yoke: thing. yolk: nickname for an illegal drug. you big, feckless eejit: you are stupid. you made a balls of it: you messed it up. you make a good door but a bad window: get out of my way. you put the heart crossways in me: you scared me. you’re about as useful as tits on a bull: calling someone useless. you’re as tight as a duck’s hole: you’re stingy.
your wan: that woman.
