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?.
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
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 hereOriginally Posted by the 12 th man
Coleman for Ireland
This is an interesting article on Hiberno-English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English
Have you ever won the treble?
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"
Cork City: Making 'Dream Team' seem realistic since 2007.
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.
Nobody knows us, we don't care
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."
I can only respond in kind:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/16385/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.
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.
Last edited by osarusan; 08/01/2010 at 11:40 PM. Reason: keep adding points
People at work laugh at the fact I tend to randomly tag the word "but" onto the end of some sentences.
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.
"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"!
Hahahah, yeah i've heard that in american shows
One thing I love that other nationalities like is the shop assistants when they say goodbye or give out change...
'Now'..
'Fascists dress in black and go round telling people what to do, where as priests.....'
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!
The only other person I know who does that is Australian. I've never noticed an Irish person do it.
Extratime.ie
Yo te quiero, mi querida. Sin tus besos, yo soy nada.
Abri o portão de ouro, da maquina do tempo.
Mi mamá me hizo guapo, listo y antimadridista.
The contraction of "I am not" to "I amn't" rather than "I'm not" is uniquely Irish also.
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.
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.
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