An Irish Country Christmas (68 page)

carrageen moss:
An edible seaweed.

caubeen:
Traditional Irish bonnet.

casualty:
Emergency room.

céili:
Irish. Pronounced “kaylee.” Party, usually with music and dancing.

champ:
A dish of buttermilk, butter, potatoes, and chives.

chemist:
Pharmacist.

chiseller:
Dublin slang, a small child.

chuntering:
Talking nonstop.

clabber:
Glutinous mess of mud, or mud and cow clap.

clatter, a brave:
A large quantity.

colloguing:
Chatting about trivia.

conkers:
Horse chestnuts. Used to play a children’s game.

coortin’:
Paying court to. See also
walk out with
.

cow’s lick:
Tuft of hair that sticks up, or hair slicked over to one side.

cracker:
Excellent (see also
wheeker
).

craking on:
Talking incessantly.

crayture:
Creature. Equivalent to North American “critter.”

craytur, a drop of the:
Whiskey.

crick in the neck or back:
Painful strain.

crúibins:
Irish. Pronounced “crubeen.” Boiled pigs’ feet, served cold and eaten with vinegar.

cure, wee:
Hair of the dog.

dab hand:
Skilled at.

damper:
Device for restricting the flow of air to a coal or turf fire to slow the rate of burning.

dander:
Literally, horse dandruff. Used to signify either a short leisurely walk or anger. For example, “He really got my dander up.”

dead on:
A strong affirmative or excited acceptance of good news. Equivalent to “I totally agree” and “That’s marvelous.”

dibs:
A claim upon.

didny; didnae:
Did not.

divil:
Devil.

divil the bit:
None. For example, “He’s divil the bit of sense.” (He’s stupid.)

doddle:
A short distance or an easy task.

do-re-mi:
Money. Equivalent of North American “dough.”

dosh:
Money.

dote:
Something adorable.

dote on:
Worship.

do with the price of corn:
Irrelevant.

dozer, no:
No fool.

drill-the-dome boys:
Medical slang, neurosurgeons. See also
nutcracker
.

drouth, raging:
Pronounced “drewth.” Alcoholic.

drúishin:
Irish. Pronounced “drisheen.” Dish made of cows’ blood, pigs’ blood, and oatmeal. A Cork City delicacy.

dudeen:
Short-stemmed clay pipe.

dulse:
A seaweed, which when dried is eaten like chewing gum.

dummy tit:
Baby’s pacifier.

duncher:
Cloth cap, usually tweed.

dunder:
Forcible thump.

Dun Laoghaire:
Port near Dublin. Pronounced “dun leery.”

eejit:
Idiot.

egg-bound hen:
A hen with an egg that cannot be laid stuck in the oviduct. Applied to a person, it suggests extreme distress.

fag:
Cigarette.

fall off the perch:
Die.

feck, fecking:
Dublin corruption of “fuck” and “fucking.”

fenian:
Catholic (pejorative).

field, the:
A place where Orange Lodges and bands congregate after the Twelfth of July parade.

finagle:
Achieve by cunning or dubious means.

fist of, to make a good:
Do a fine job.

fit to be tied:
Very angry.

flex:
Plug-in cable of an electrical appliance or light.

flies, none on:
Smart. Streetwise.

flying:
Drunk.

fornenst:
Besides.

foundered:
Chilled to the marrow.

full of it:
Being either stupid or excessively flattering.

gander:
Take a look at.

get (away) on with you:
Don’t be stupid.

get on one’s wick:
Get on one’s nerves.

give over:
Stop it.

glipe, great:
Stupid or very stupid person.

gobshite:
Dublin slang used pejoratively about a person. Literally, dried nasal mucus.

good man ma da:
Expression of approval.

grand man for the pan:
One who really enjoys fried food.

great:
The ultimate Ulster accolade; can be used to signify pleased assent to a plan.

grotty:
English slang. Run-down and dirty.

guard’s van:
Caboose.

gub:
Mouth.

gub, a good dig in the:
A punch in the mouth.

gurrier
: Dublin slang. Street urchin.

guttersnipe:
Ruffian.

hairy bear:
Woolly caterpillar.

half-cut:
Drunk.

hand’s turn:
Minimum amount of work.

having me on:
Deceiving me.

head staggers:
Making a very stupid decision. Literally, a parasitic disease affecting the brains of sheep and causing them to stagger.

heart of corn:
Very good-natured.

heifer:
Young cow before her first breeding.

heels of the hunt:
When everything has been concluded.

hirstle:
Chesty wheeze.

hit the spot:
Fill the need.

hobby-horse shite, your head’s full of:
Literally, sawdust. You’re stupid.

holdall:
Canvas sports bag.

hold your horses:
Wait a minute.

hooley:
Party.

hoor:
Whore.

houseman:
Medical intern.

how’s (a)bout ye?
How are you? Or good-day.

humdinger:
Something extraordinary.

I’m your man:
I agree to your plan and will follow it.

in soul, I do:
Emphatic.

in the stable:
Of a drink, already paid for before being poured.

jar:
An alcoholic drink.

jaunting car:
An open, high, two-wheeled vehicle. The passenger accommodation was two benches, arranged along either side so the passengers sat with their backs to the cart bed. By the 1960s it was rarely seen except in the most rural parts of Ireland or as a tourist attraction.

jigs and reels, between the:
To cut a long story short.

knackered:
Very tired. An allusion to a horse so worn out by work that it is destined for the knacker’s yard, where horses are destroyed.

knickers in a twist, in a knot:
Anxiously upset.

knocking:
Having sexual intercourse.

Lambeg drum:
Massive bass drum carried on shoulder straps by Orangemen and beaten with two sticks, sometimes until the drummer’s wrists bleed.

length and breadth of it:
All the details.

lepp:
Leap.

let the hare sit:
Leave the thing alone.

like the sidewall of a house:
Huge, especially when applied to someone’s physical build.

liltie:
A madman. An Irish whirling dervish.

load of cobblers’:
In Cockney rhyming slang, “cobblers’ awls” means “balls.” Used to signify rubbish.

lough:
Pronounced “logh,” almost as if clearing the throat. A sea inlet or very large inland lake.

lummox:
Stupid creature.

main:
Very.

make a mint:
Make a great deal of money.

moping:
Indulging in self-pity.

more power to your wheel:
Very good luck to you; encouragement.

muggy:
Hot and humid.

mullet, stunned:
To look as stupid or surprised as a mullet, an ugly saltwater fish.

Mullingar heifer, calves like:
Cows from Mullingar were said to have very thick legs.

my shout:
I’m buying the drinks.

near took the rickets:
Had a great shock.

no dozer:
Clever.

no goat’s toe, he thinks he’s:
Has an overinflated sense of his own importance.

no spring chicken:
Getting on in years.

not as green as you’re cabbage looking:
More clever than you appear to be.

not at myself:
Feeling unwell.

Not at the match:
Not altogether sane.

nutcracker:
Neurosurgeon.

on eggs:
Extremely worried.

Orange Order:
Fraternal order of Protestants loyal to the British crown.

Orange and Green:
The colours of Loyalists and Republicans, respectively. Used to symbolize the age-old schism in Irish politics.

ould goat:
Old man, often used affectionately.

out of kilter:
Out of alignment.

oxter:
Armpit.

oxter-cog:
To carry by supporting under the armpits.

pacamac:
Cheap, transparent, plastic raincoat carried in a small bag.

Paddy hat:
Soft-crowned tweed hat.

Paddy’s market:
A large, disorganised crowd.

pan loaf:
Loaf of ordinary bread.

peat (turf):
Fuel derived from compressed vegetable matter.

peely-wally:
Scots. Under the weather; unwell.

pelmet:
Valance.

penny bap:
A small bun, usually coated in flour.

petrified:
Terrified.

physical jerks:
Gymnastics.

piss artist:
Alcoholic.

poke:
Have sex with; a small parcel.

pong:
British forces slang for “stink.”

pop one’s clogs:
Die.

poulticed:
Pregnant, usually out of wedlock.

powerful:
Very.

power of:
A great deal of.

praties:
Potatoes.

punter:
Gambler, particularly on horse races.

quare:
Ulster pronunciation of queer. Very strange.

randy:
Sexually aroused.

randy as an old goat:
Very sexually aroused.

raparee:
Originally an unskilled labourer. Now used pejoratively for a ne’er-do-well.

rapscallion:
Ne’er-do-well.

raring to go:
Eager and fully prepared.

recimetation:
Malapropism for recitation.

registrar, medical:
Trainee physician equivalent to a North American resident.

reverse the charges:
Call collect.

right enough:
That’s true. Used interrogatively, is that true?

rightly:
Very well.

rightly, it will do:
It’s not perfect but will serve well enough.

roast:
Verbally chastise;
not
pay humorous tribute to.

ruddy:
Euphemism for “bloody.”

rug rats:
Children.

run-race:
Quick trip to, usually on foot.

script/scrip:
Prescription.

scunner, take a scunner at or to:
Dislike someone intensely and bear a grudge.

scutch grass:
Coarse grass found growing in salty soil.

semi:
Semidetached house. Duplex.

shebang, the whole:
Lock, stock, and barrel. Everything.

sheugh:
Bog.

shit, to:
To defaecate.

shite:
Faeces.

shufti:
Army slang. A quick look at.

Sinn Féin:
Literally, ourselves. The political party of the Irish Republican Movement.

skitters:
Diarrhoea.

skiver:
Corruption of “scurvy.” Pejorative. Ne’er-do-well.

skivvy:
From “scurvy.” Housemaid.

skinful, to get a:
To get drunk.

sliced pan, best thing since:
Presliced, then wrapped, pan loaf was reintroduced after the Second World War. To be better than it was the acme of perfection.

slip jig:
Traditional dance.

slough about:
Laze around.

smacker:
Pound.

snotters:
Runny nose.