To celebrate the upcoming launch of Damo & Ivor’s brand new television show, JOE takes a look at some of the strange and wonderful phrases used on our Irish streets every day and tells you what basics you’ll need to get by.
Tourists visiting our wonderful country will of course have done their research, bought their guide books and they’re more than likely able to ask “where is the nearest library?” or “do you know the way to the local STD clinic train station?”
But that’s not what our visitors really want to know, is it?
Of course not. They want to know what the common man, Mr Joe O’Bloggs, is talking about when they bump into him at 3.30am outside Coppers or Kiely’s on a Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for our welcome guests, there’s no guidebook out there that can help them when someone’s yelling in their faces that they’re “Totes McGoats drunk”.
The English may have given us oppression issues and a complex, but it’s fair to say that we showed them how to turn a phrase in their own language.
We’ve already had Parts One, Two and Three of Damo and Ivor’s guide to Irish slang so here are five more essential Irish phrases we should all be aware of when travelling the length and breadth of the country:
Cute hoor
We all know them, the cute hoors. The chancer, the slippery so-and-so, the rogue. The cute hoor is that very Irish of Irish people who may seem upstanding and friendly at first but, when given the chance, will gladly rip you off and blame you for all of their mistakes.
Sound familiar?
Amptinah?
A Derry word that, when used in a sentence, is essentially present to reaffirm a statement of positivity.
For example, when your mammy inevitably asks you “are you gonna be wearing trousers when you leave the house today?” and you respond with the sentence “Aye, ah defs am, amtinah Ma?” then it basically translates as “yes, I most certainly am Mother.”
Sheesh, who says we have to wear trousers anyway?
Hippy
An Irish word that’s used to describe someone who likes the music of Bryan Adams.
He’d/She’d piss vinegar
Let’s just say that this particular Munster phrase is a, ahem, term of “endearment” for bastards/bitches who may be particularly tight/bitter/spiteful towards you and you’re not too happy about that.
Jknowwarrahmean?
You’ll hear this at the end of most phrases said by a salt-of-the-earth Dub and it basically translates as “Do you know what I mean?”
Jknowwarrahmean?
Sure you do.
So there you have it folks. Five essential phrases from all over Ireland to help you and your tourist guests get by.
For more insights into Irish dialects, sort of, check out the new series of Damo and Ivor, which is on each Monday at 10.00pm on RTÉ Two.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
