Uniquely Irish

[Mad Moose]

This is just something I thought I'd throw out there for discussion for two reasons. Further to leaving Ireland a couple of years ago I beliee I have developed a greater sense of myself in terms of national identity and how we are percieved as a nation.

What though sets us apart as a people. What is it we have as a people that makes us unique. People laugh warmly at some of the phrases I come out with and its a source of much amusement and people wanting to find out what it is I have said and what it means.

I was thinking about this over christmas and reading a story about how the 'night of the big wind' in 1947 (I think) was the night used to determine if somebody was eligible for old age pension. Many people (of whom there were no records) had to present themselves and prove they were born before that particular night. Queue very elaborate tales then in order to prove age. It made me chuckle and I thought (whether true or not) it made for a good story.

So your thoughts. Are there particular phrases that are uniquely Irish also?.

[jebus]

I was in a bar in Brooklyn last summer and telling some random story to an American friend when the bar maid walked past and said 'typical Irish, always act out the stories as you tell them' in reference to my hand movements

I responded with another hand movement

[the 12 th man]

We love to complain to each other about things but hardly ever to the person/place that's causing the problem,like in restaurants.

[sligofan4ever]

We love to complain to each other about things but hardly ever to the person/place that's causing the problem,like in restaurants.

We just love to complain anyways, we wanted a winter wonderland, now everyone's giving out after getting it, perfect example. However, we're also supposed to be the best country in the world for fun and joy and we are supposed to have the best sense of humour. Everyone loves Ireland except the people who live here :D

[brendy_éire]

This is an interesting article on Hiberno-English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English

[tiktok]

So your thoughts. Are there particular phrases that are uniquely Irish also?.

I saw an interview years ago with Kylie Minogue where at the end the interviewer said "thanks a million", she broke out in a big smile, said she loved it and that it was 'so Irish'. Other Australian girls I've met don't seem as charmed by it.

Lived in the states for a while and people got a kick out of my saying "I'm grand"

[Paddyfield]

My son was born prematurely and subsequently spent a long tome in hospital.
At this time, we encountered a German couple who had a premature baby (weighed 448 grammes!!!). They came to Galway for a weekend and ended up staying 4 months.

They ultimately soaked up the Irishness of their environment.

They asked a doctor "how is our daughter?" which was replied with "grand" which is french for big. They were confused.

They asked an Asian doctor (who has all of the irish sayings) and he said "not too bad". They panicked. What does NOT TOO BAD actually mean? They took it literally and expected the worst.

Then a nurse said that the baby "will be sucking diesel in no time". The poor Germans just hadn't a fecking clue what was going on.


Thankfully both babies survived and thrived.

[John83]

"grand"...
"not too bad"...
"will be sucking diesel in no time"...
I'm reminded of the excessively literal doctor in Arrested Development. This is his worst scene, but it's the only one I can find online:

Lucille: How's my son?
Doctor: He's going to be all right.
Lindsay Funke: Finally some good news from this guy.
George Michael Bluth: There's no other way to take that.
Doctor: That's a great attitude. I got to tell you, if I was getting this news, I don't know that I'd take it this well.
Lucille: But you said he was all right.
Doctor: Yes, he's lost his left hand. So he's going to be "all right."

[thischarmingman]

I'm reminded of the excessively literal doctor in Arrested Development. This is his worst scene, but it's the only one I can find online:

I can only respond in kind:


Lois: So doctor, is Peter healthy?
Doctor: My goodness, you'll be dead within a month.
Peter: What?
Doctor (revealing comic he was reading): Oh, Hagar the Horrible, if you keep up that lifestyle of pillaging and eating giant turkey legs, you'll be dead within a month. Now, onto you.
Peter: So, what do you think? Pretty healthy, eh?
Doctor: Well, Mr. Griffin, let's take a look at your physical results. Argh! There's a spider in here. Now, here we go. Mr Griffin, you're going to expire in a month.
Peter/Lois: Argh!
Doctor: This is your driver's licence, isn't it? Now, unfortunately, I'm afraid you're going to die...
Peter: Argh!
Doctor: ...when you watch these Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.
Lois: Will you just tell us how Peter's health is?!
Doctor: Ah, Mr. Griffin, I'm not quite sure how to say this. Kim Bassinger? Bass singer? Bassinger? But now, onto the cancer.
Lois: Oh my goodness!
Doctor: You are a Cancer, right? You were born in July? Now onto these test results. My, they're much worse than I thought.
Peter/Lois: Oh!
Doctor: My son got a D minus on his history test. Now Mr Griffin, that liver's got to come out.
Lois: What?!
Doctor: It's been in the microwave for three minutes, it'll get dry. Now-
Lois: Please, please, we can't take any more schtick.. Please just tell us, is Peter healthy?
Doctor: Oh, yeah, he's fine, he's just really fat.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/16385/

[osarusan]

The phrasal verb "give out to" seems to be Irish only, which is linguistically quite interesting (to me if nobody else, if it is even true).

One of the Italian students I was teaching last summer was so frustrated by the fact that Irish people would ask her how she was but then just walk past her without waiting for a reply. We had to explain to her that in this situation, the correct reply to "how'r'ye" is "how'r'ye".

Also, I wonder if the expression "fair play to you" or just "fair play" is spoken by native English speakers other than Irish people.

[thischarmingman]

People at work laugh at the fact I tend to randomly tag the word "but" onto the end of some sentences.

[irishultra]

give out is uniquely irish and yeah when we ask how you are we don't really care.

or the most irish of irish things is in dublin city and people saying sorry every minute. lol.

[tetsujin1979]

"Give out" meaning to complain to is an Irish saying alright

Friend of mine moved to Washington DC for work a few years back, and his girlfriend moved over to live with him when he got settled. He came into work one morning kind of annoyed and his workmates asked him what was up, "ah, Jenny was giving out to me last night because I didn't do the dishes" (or whatever he did/didn't do, I can't remember). Queue a bunch of shocked faces in the office.

Turns out in DC, "to give out" is slang for "to perform oral sex"!

[irishultra]

Hahahah, yeah i've heard that in american shows

[Pauro 76]

One thing I love that other nationalities like is the shop assistants when they say goodbye or give out change...

'Now'..

[weecountyman]

Well........

Prefacing a question, statement, admittal, apology etc. Every language has something like this, but for Irish people it's the most common.

Except in Louth, where Well can mean "Hello" "How are you?" "What's the craic?" etc. If you get, "Well hey, what's the craic?" you're one of the family!

[superfrank]

People at work laugh at the fact I tend to randomly tag the word "but" onto the end of some sentences.
The only other person I know who does that is Australian. I've never noticed an Irish person do it.

[osarusan]

The contraction of "I am not" to "I amn't" rather than "I'm not" is uniquely Irish also.

[Mad Moose]

This is an interesting article on Hiberno-English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English

I enjoyed reading that. I have to say I still say 'wile' in describing things. Its 'wile' cold today.

I do say 'Now' as a forerunner to a lot of sentences I say. I can't say I particularly know why either.

[dahamsta]

I love seeing or hearing Irish phrases just slightly out of their natural environment, like Bernard calling Manny "a pain in the hole" on Black Books. I'm not even sure that's specifically an Irish phrase, but the way he says it is. :)

[brianw82]

I was told, while in Canada, that saying "half six" when asked the time was odd. "Half six is three," I was told. Obviously, people just starting leaving out the 'past' at some point.

[weecountyman]

On the continent you half to be careful with telling the time. Half-five, for them, is 4.30. They don't do quarters either, which got me a kick from an old lady in Wiesbaden one night trying to get a train home.

[the 12 th man]

Craic
Laxadaisey
"Do you come here often?"

[elroy]

Not sure this is an Irish example but one thing I have noticed loads of people saying in more frequency over the last few years is in response to something in conversation they start with " Yeah no......."

A contradiction in itself

[Schumi]

I was told, while in Canada, that saying "half six" when asked the time was odd. "Half six is three," I was told. Obviously, people just starting leaving out the 'past' at some point.

Yeah, my Australian cousin couldn't get his head around 'half six' either. I couldn't understand how it was difficult to understand.

[Stevo Da Gull]

People at work laugh at the fact I tend to randomly tag the word "but" onto the end of some sentences.

In line with what SF said, this is fairly common in Australia.

I used to get bagged for saying sorry too often in conversation when I first got here. Also, 'gobsh!te' is pretty unknown outside of Ireland I think.

[danthesaint]

irish ma's are great with their sayings like:

if ya fall off that wall and break your legs dont come running to me.

and doesnt matter what you say to them she will reply with

i'll _____________ you, which doesnt make sense

[strangeirish]

"Do you come here often?"
"No, I always have this look on my face..."
:D

[Mad Moose]

My mum would always say 'shut your mouth and speak to everyone'. It was always clear what she meant in terms of respecting people but it always caused us to retort with the obvious. I think she would also say 'shut your mouth and eat your dinner' but the former was the more amusing.

[ifk101]

Adding the words "grand", "like" and "you know" to pretty much everything you have to say.

[dahamsta]

Not sure this is an Irish example but one thing I have noticed loads of people saying in more frequency over the last few years is in response to something in conversation they start with " Yeah no......."My wife does that, it drives me demented!


I used to get bagged for saying sorry too often in conversation when I first got here.That bugs me, and I do it myself; we've replaced "excuse me" with "sorry" for some strange reason.

It's very Irish though, very catholic guilt: it's my fault you're in my way.

[Magicme]

My dutch uncle gets a great kick out of the colloquisims and has adopted the refrain "the best" to questions such as "how are you" "how was your food" and "how are you feeling". He has also infected the UN Courts of Law in the Hague with this were French, Italians and Swiss are now responding in Tyrone accents when asked how they are.


One that may be more peculiar to this neck of the woods is the word "wee". Every shop, restaurant, office you go into people will offer you a wee drink, a wee seat, your wee receipt etc. It drives me mad. I want to say, no I would like a big coffee and a sofa please.

[thischarmingman]

One that may be more peculiar to this neck of the woods is the word "wee". Every shop, restaurant, office you go into people will offer you a wee drink, a wee seat, your wee receipt etc. It drives me mad. I want to say, no I would like a big coffee and a sofa please.

This.

Never used to notice it that much but my girlfriend is from Athlone and finds it amazing how often we say it at home in relation to everything. She likes it and thinks it makes everything sound friendlier but it's almost got to the stage in my family where people say things like, "She had a wee stroke," "He got his wee degree," "He had to get a wee operation." People take the p!ss at work when I say it too.

[TheBoss]

When you tell a friend that somebody died, the response is mostly, ''Really, I saw him/her the other day !''

[Paddyfield]

Irish talk more about the weather than any other nation of people. Many other European countries get extreme heat and cold in a space of 12 months but would never discuss it with a stranger.

We have a national emergency with the temperature goes above 30 Celcius or below zero for more than 48 hours.

When we go abroad, we talk about the weather at home and in the place we are visiting.

we hope the weather is crapier at home when we are on holidays.

Many Irish people boast about sunburn. It is like a trophy.

[osarusan]

If anybody is really interested they can go and buy this once it is available -
Corpus of Irish-English (http://www.ul.ie/~lcie/research_4.htm)

[Fizzer]

I think a lot of visitors are surprised at the way we thank bus drivers at the end of the journey.

[gustavo]

When I was in college the Czech exchange student was fascinated by the way we had that soft T in pronouncing words

[peadar1987]

Nobody knows what a "yoke" is

[endabob1]

Nobody knows what a "yoke" is


:D This fascinates my Mrs, and the references to Yer Man & Yer Wan

I find foreigners who have learned to speak English in Ireland hysterically funny to listen to.
I used to work with a Czech guy who had the thick Eastern European accent but would call people feckin ejits in an accent straight out of South Tipp. I know a German bird who lives in Ireland and everything is grand, “datz grand” I chuckle every time I hear it

[paul_oshea]

This.

Never used to notice it that much but my girlfriend is from Athlone and finds it amazing how often we say it at home in relation to everything. She likes it and thinks it makes everything sound friendlier but it's almost got to the stage in my family where people say things like, "She had a wee stroke," "He got his wee degree," "He had to get a wee operation." People take the p!ss at work when I say it too.

Am i the only one to laugh at the last few sentences here?! :D

[paul_oshea]

A yoke, thing, what do ye call it, can mean anything.

I think i became more aware of the irish sayings etc when i first went to america 8 years ago. I was with a mate after a night out, good night, chatting up yanks and feeding them all sorts anyway when we were going home, i sat in the front of the cab, which doesn't really happen for a start in america, and turned to my mate in the back and said, fcuken deadly, that was fcuken deadly. Cab driver stops and says, "Hey man i dont want any trouble", i was like what?! my mate behind me copped straight away and is ****ing himself. ANyway i didnt know what was going on but everytime id say thats deadly in situations people would look at me funny, so eventually my mate told me. Deadly obviously means lethal :D Yanks thought i meant all sorts, but still not quite sure if the cab driver later reported me to the police :D

At home, when asking how someone is or the subject of an email will just be "well". NOthing else. People over here are like "well what". They also think its quite rude. The tans get mixed up with craic as well, they always put a preopistion before it which just sounds terrible. Hearing a lot more english say feck now as well which is funny.

Bull thick or bullin is another one the yanks used to love me saying. they hadn't a clue what i was saying though. Ah theres loads i just cant think of anymore now :D

going home home is another. Boasting about being locked or being very messy is a very irish thing as well, ive realised you dont go on about that in front of certain nationalities.

Looking the other way, i used to love the yanks especially teh women saying "hey can i take a ride with you guys". How they could never realise what they were saying was beyond me. IT still is.

I always thought "to give out" was the same as the irish on a promise, but to have already done it i.e. to put out. Get the ride

[pineapple stu]

Anything on Father Ted.

[Acornvilla]

Anything on Father Ted.
even if c4 made it :)

[pineapple stu]

Yep, true. But the characters and some of the dialogue is brilliant. Would love to know what foreigners make of it.

[Acornvilla]

Yep, true. But the characters and some of the dialogue is brilliant. Would love to know what foreigners make of it.
probably wouldnt understand it at all? aussies might? odnt think americans would.. i'm sure brits love it thou :D

[Norm]

A Whatjamacallit...
A Yokeymabob..
A Thingymajig..

[brendy_éire]

That bugs me, and I do it myself; we've replaced "excuse me" with "sorry" for some strange reason.

It's very Irish though, very catholic guilt: it's my fault you're in my way.

Got this mentioned to me the other day there. Used 'sorry' to a waitress in a restaurant, instead of 'excuse me'. My English friend was a bit puzzled by it, and I can see why.
Maybe it is the guilt thing. I felt bad asking the waitress for vinegar, even though that's her job, and she obviously expects customers to ask for stuff, so she's not going to mind.

Same person also picked up on our lack of using 'yes' and 'no'.
"Are you working tomorrow?" "I am".
"Is it snowing?" "It is and all."

Just noticed there that adding "and all" may be another Irish thing. I'd definitely use it a fair bit, "He's away and all". "I've ate and all."

[paul_oshea]

Fair bit. definitely IRish.

The irony of it all, you say whats common and then use a common irish expression to to express something being said an average amount of times D

the words Fair and Bit, mean opposite things even the words taken seperately dont make sense :D

[Paulie]

I don't know if it's uniquely Irish, although I think it is, but I tend to use the expression "safe home" a lot. There was an Aussie friend of mine that lived here for a few years and that was one of her favourites.