List of Irish slang

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Irish slang is slang used by the Irish.

Ireland is known to linguists as having a great variance in colloquial slang from area to area despite Ireland's relatively small population of just over four million

Areas of varying slang

General Slang

• "Locked/Buckled/Gargled" - Drunk
• "Gargle/Scoops" - Drink (alcohol)
• "Kip/Dive/Dump/Tip" - a place that is unappealing
• "Aul one" - Mother,
• "Aul Fella/Ol' lad/Ol' man" - Father
• "Langer" - penis or idiot
• "Ages" - long time
• "Legend" - great person (can also be used to descibe a great place or thing)
• "Young one" - A young girl, usually in her teens
• "Savage" - meaning very good or great
• "Slagging/Ripping it out of" - To ridicule/mock/make fun of e.g.He's ripping it out of John means He's making fun of John
• "Fair Play/Fair Balls" - well done/congratulations
• "Banjaxed" - Broken beyond repair
• "Wagon" - A difficult or awkward woman "she's a right wagon"
• Sound - Adjective used to say that a person is of good character and a worthwhile individual.
• "Howya" - How Are You?
• "Whats the story?" - How are you?
• "Slapper"- slut
• "Jaysus!" - Used as an exclamation. Different pronunciation of "jesus!" but is regarded as slang
• "Give her/him one" - Have sex with her/him
• "Bate" - beat up
• "Fanny" - Although used as a slang term for the buttocks in the U.S., in Ireland it is a slang term for Vagina
• "Wide" - Knowledeble, aware of whats going on
• "Be wide" - Be careful or wary.
• "C'mere" - attempting to get somebody's full attention.
• "Class" - cool/very good
• "Conkers" - seeds of the horse chestnut tree. Used in a childhood game.
• "The Pictures" - the cinema
• "Fridgid" - person who has never frenched kissed
• "Gawk" - to look at. Also used as the verb to get sick.
• "Sketch/Scatter!" - Someone's coming
• "Keeping Sketch" - To be a look-out
• "Leggit!" - RUN AWAY!
• "Law" - Memeber of the Gardai Siochana (Irish Police Force)
• "Gaff" - House/Home
• "D4/D4 head" - A term used to describe upper class people, derives from the fact that the majority live in the D4/Dublin 4 post code area.
• "Roysh"- A term used usually in a mocking fashion of the way D4's/D4 heads say the word right
• "Dubes"- Dubarry Deck shoes, shoes which are stereotypically characterised with D4's
• "Sham" - A person from a middle class/upper class background trying to act working class in order to make themselves apperar tougher.
• "Culchie/Bogger" - a country person
• "Meet" - French kiss
• "Skanger" is generally a term of abuse for someone in Dublin of a working class background who has a particular style of dress.
• "Deadly"/"whopper/rapid" - good
• "Poshie" - refers to the upper class of people from southeast Dublin city and Dublin 4
• "Gee" (prounonced with a hard G) - Vagina
• "Knacker (silent K)/Pikey/Tinker - A member of the travelling community
• "Micky" - Penis
• "Acting the Micky" - Not taking things seriously
• "Dope/Sap/Spa" - Idiot
• "Yoke" - Any thing (usually used if the person can't remember the name of something). Also a slang term for Ecstasy pills.
• "Dutchie" - Dutch Gold, a very cheap imported lager so it appeals to youths
• "Up the duff/Duffed" - Pregnant
• "Knacker 'tasch" - Refers to teenage moustaches with contain only a few hairs on either side of the mouth. Insulting to the attempted grower.
• "Pukin' me ring" - To be getting sick very heavily/for a long period of time
• "Stall it" - wait, or when used with "to", "Stall it to X - come to X

External links

• [Irish Slang|Irish people being generally sick.]
• [Everyday English and Slang in Ireland]

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