A Visitor’s Guide to Dublin – Part III Useful Phrases
Karen | July 27, 2009Just a few useful phrases to bear in mind when you’re visiting Dublin. There are probably hundreds I’m forgetting so feel free to add more in the comments.
Greetings
Howaya – Dublin for ‘how are you’?
Ah Jaysis Howaya! – same as the above, but more exuberant, for when you’re REALLY pleased to see someone.
Story? – Dublin for ‘what’s the story’ another greeting, when you’re just too lazy for howaya.
Take it handy – has many meanings, usually used as a goodbye, when you’re waving someone off, to mean ‘take it easy’ or ‘mind yourself’ but can also be used when giving directions to warn someone to watch their speed while driving, as in ‘take it handy on the road near the church, it’s very narrow’.
Swear words/curses
Jaysis – Dublin for ‘Jesus’ used in numerous different ways, both positive and negative. For example ‘Jaysis it’s great to see you’ or ‘Jaysis my wife got knocked down by a bus last night’ or ‘Jaysis, this dress is a terrible price’.
Feck – the Irish for f*ck, used in everyday speech, for example ‘for feck’s sake’.
Fecker – usually preceded by ‘you little’ to mean someone who’s a bit of a chancer or a cheeky chappy.
I will in me hole/arse/brown – Means ‘I most certainly will not’ and usually used when you’re asked to do something you’d rather not. For example ‘Will you work late on Friday night?’ ‘I will in me hole!’
Bol*ox/bol*ocks – a swear word, slang for balls, used when something goes wrong, ‘Ah bol*ox I dropped my pint’ or in the more familiar ‘I will in me bol*ox’
Bleedin’ – Dublin for bloody. So ‘watch where you’re bleedin’ going!’
A slieveen – a sly person, usually preceded by ‘you little’.
Wagon – A horrible person, usually a woman. ‘Yer wan was an awful wagon.’
Dirtbird – Usually preceded by ‘you dirty lookin’. A negative term to describe someone who has wronged you.
A shower of bastards – A group of nefarious individuals.
Culchie – anyone from any of the other 31 counties in Ireland other than Dublin.
Gombeen – an idiot, a simpleton. Mostly used to describe our politicians.
Tool – an idiot, but worse than Gombeen.
Gobshite – an idiot, not as bad as tool, but worse than Gombeen
Eejit – an idiot, not as bad as Gombeen, a kind of affectionate term
Arse – ass, bum
Shite – Irish for shit, but less harsh, almost a word you’d let your kids use!
Fanny – A lady’s lawn of love, especially for any Americans reading, who use fanny to describe someone’s bottom. So if you say ‘Oh honey, where’s my fanny pack’ in Dublin expect people around you to burst into uncontrollable laughter. Yes, we are that juvenile!
Geebag – A horrible person, usually a woman.
Phrases to help you fit in:
The craic – pronounced ‘crack’ this means to have great fun, a brilliant time, a good laugh. So ‘that party was great craic’ or ‘let’s go to Paddy’s house, we’ll have the craic.’
Savage – again like take it handy, this has many meanings but is generally a positive word, meaning something was great or fantastic – for example ‘that was a savage dinner Mrs O’Brien’ or ‘the U2 gig was savage’. However, in some cases savage can be negative and used to describe something annoying, for example, ‘the traffic on O’Connell Street was savage’. If you’re using savage in the negative, be sure to add a frown and an annoyed shake of the head, to differentiate!
Ah here! – An exclamation used when you’re annoyed at something or something has taken you by surprise. For example, if your boss suddenly tells you late on Friday that you’ve to work over the weekend, it would be appropriate to exclaim ‘ah here!’
Go wan outta dat! – Another handy exclamation, Dublin for ‘go on out of that’ usually used when someone tells you something outrageous (‘I saw Bela from Fair City in our local last night’ ‘Go wan outta dat!’) or when you’re asked to do something you’d rather not. For example ‘Paddy, you wouldn’t mind doing all this overtime for no pay wouldn’t you not?’ ‘Go wan outta dat!’
Me oul segosha – several meanings, but can be used as a friendly greeting, when you haven’t seen someone in a while, for example ‘Ah Paddy! Me oul segosha!’ However, can also be used menacingly when you haven’t seen someone for a long time, because they’ve been on the run from you, for example ‘Ah Paddy! Me oul segosha! Where’s that 50 thousand euro you owe me?’ Again to differentiate, if you’re using segosha in a menacing way, a narrowing of the eyes and a drawing out of the words is required.
Gameball – means ‘that’s great’ or ‘I’m great’. So can be used thus: ‘How’re you today Paddy?’ ‘Gameball’ or ‘We’re going to close the office an hour early today’ ‘Gameball’.
Sound – generally a positive word to describe something or somebody. So, ‘Paddy’s a sound man’ meaning that Paddy is a great man altogether.
Taking the piss/ripping the piss – making fun of someone or something, for example ‘No I’m not really a big movie star, I was only ripping the piss.’
The jacks – the toilet, the loo.
Yer man – that chap over there
Yer wan – that woman over there
Skanger – trailer trash, usually wearing Nike air max.
Slapper – a lady of questionable morals.
Drinklink – an ATM or cash machine.
Acting the maggot – Behaving in an inappropriate manner, or taking the piss if you will! So if someone was annoying you with their foolish behaviour you might say ‘Ah here! Stop acting the maggot!’
Bud – Pal, mate, friend
Giving it loads – Several meanings, some negative, some positive, meaning to put your back into something. So for example if someone was dancing enthusiastically on the dancefloor and showing off you might say ‘Look at yer man, giving it loads’. Or if someone was giving out about something, to a shop assistant say, you might hear ‘Jaysis, look at yer wan, giving it loads.’
A gas man – Not to be confused with THE gas man, who works for our national fuel company Bord Gais. No, a gas man is a funny individual.
I’ll burst ya – I’ll kill you. Not literally kill, more a term of annoyance, used mainly when talking to children.
A smack/dig – to hit someone. So, ‘I’ll hit you a smack if you don’t shut up’ or ‘Yer man gave me a dig in the ribs.’
Rapid – Brilliant, fantastic, great. It’s preferable not to pronounce the ‘d’ at the end though, so pronounce it ‘Rapi’ or ‘Rapih’.
Codger – As in ‘you oul codger’ an affectionate term for an older man who’s a bit of a chancer.
Food and Drink
A pint – A pint of Guinness. Generally most pubs will know when you ask for ‘a pint’ that you want Guinness so there’s no need to clarify and add on ‘of Guinness’. At a push you can ask for ‘a pint of stout’ but even this will mark you out as a furrin-er. Or worse, a lager drinker.
A few scoops – a few pints.
A feed of pints – many, many pints.
A one and one – A battered cod and portion of chips (fries) from the chipper. Leo Burdocks, the best chipper in Ireland, situated opposite Christchurch Cathedral in the city centre and in Rathmines, is the place to go to hear this most often.
A single – another chipper term, meaning a portion of chips (fries)
A spice-burger – unidentified meat shaped into patties and covered in spiced breadcrumbs, then deep fried, also available from the chipper. A staple of most Dublin diets, eat one at your peril.
Rashers – bacon, pork, served at breakfast. If you call it bacon we’ll immediately know you’re not from around here.
A fry – a full Irish breakfast, either fried or grilled. We’re talking sausage, we’re talking bacon, we’re talking eggs, we’re talking black and white pudding, we’re talking fried bread.
A package of King – a packet of cheese and onion crisps. King is a brand of crisps particularly beloved by Dubliners. Only culchies eat Tayto crisps.
A 99 – An ice-cream cone with a chocolate flake stuck in it. Don’t be fooled by the name, it doesn’t cost 99 cent, it costs considerably more. Recession? What recession?
Smokes – cigarettes. Also ‘do you want to go for a smoke?’ meaning ‘do you want to step outside to partake of a cigarette?’
A nice cup of tea – The drug of choice in every Irish home, we drink gallons of the stuff and you won’t be allowed to leave someone’s house without drinking at least two cups, so it’s best to just give in and accept it.
The Weather
Pissing down – raining
Lashing – raining
Hammering – raining
Brolly – an umbrella
Bucketing down – raining
Sweatin’ – sunny
Roastin’ – warm
Bitther – Cold
Going out for the night
Going on the piss – Going out to get drunk
Locked – drunk
Fluthered – drunk
Hammered – drunk
Polluted – drunk
Out of your tree – drunk
On the batter – Going out to get drunk
Banjaxed – drunk. Also can be used to describe something that is broken or clapped out, so ‘my car is banjaxed’.
Romance
Getting off with someone – for our younger visitors, if someone asks you to ‘get off’ with them, they’re asking you for a kiss, with tongues!
A wear – another word for kissing with tongues, as in ‘He was wearing the face off me at the disco’. Not to be confused with A-wear, which is an Irish fashion shop, the hyphen is very important there!
Bet down/beat down – someone who is extremely unattractive. From ‘bet down with the ugly stick’ or ‘he was beat down out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down’. So you would say ‘man the girl I met last night was bet down.’
Ride – to have sex with someone. Also used to describe a very attractive person, as in, ‘oh he was a total ride’. So to all you Americans reading this, when you’re in Dublin it’s not advisable to offer someone a ride in your car, because it could be taken up the wrong way!
General information:
Town – the city centre of Dublin. Generally used thus ‘I’m going into town on Thursday’ so if you’re staying with relatives in the suburbs of Dublin, they may point out the bus stop for ‘town’ or tell you that it’s best to get into ‘town’ early, meaning into the city centre.
Aslan – a Dublin band and a rite of initiation for any non-national coming to live here permanently. If you’re not an Aslan fan, then you’re a culchie, a fate worse than death. Knowing all the words to Crazy World is as essential as breathing.
The Daniel Day – Dublin rhyming slang for the Luas – as in Daniel Day Lewis. Also sometimes, the Jerry Lee.
Citóg – an Irish word for a left-handed person.
Garda – our police force. People rarely say they’re going to call the police, they say ‘I’m going to call the Garda’ or they may use the plural ‘Gardai’ or even ‘the Guards’.
Manky – something a bit disgusting and dirty, so ‘God the toilets here are manky.’
The job’s Oxo – meaning something has been sorted out, for example ‘When my next pay cheque comes in I’m going to get the painters in to finish the house and the job’s Oxo.’
Kip – Someplace dirty, untidy or disgusting. For example ‘Have you seen the state of this hotel? It’s a kip!’
Going for a kip – Having a sleep.
eheheh nice post! great irish slang!:) thanks for sharing
You forgot ‘I could eat chips out of her knickers’ referring to a very attractive lady indeed!!!
Enjoyed the dublin dictionary, excellent, were the following included: “deadly” and “spanner”?
What about, he has a head on him like a donkey’s abortion… us Irish have a way with words… or she’s so fat, not even the tide would take her out.
Just to let you know there’s a tonne of Dublin slang and other Irish Slang on Slang.ie, which is basically an All Ireland dictionary of slang…
Sound as a trout.
C.
Your definition of gombeen is completely wrong. A gombeen is an unscrupulous money lender or someone who is generally underhand in their dealings.Recently it has been used to refer to politicians who accused of corrupt dealings.The word comes from the Irish “gaimbin” meaning monetary interest or gain. It has nothing to do with idiot or simpleton.