Colloquial Nuggets - Irishisms and the like

As me move once again toward a stocked rugby season I thought as a courteasy to our overseas rugby friends I might summarise some of the most prevalent and baffling Irish phrases in use today lest you find it difficult to understand us or Irish players in interviews throughout the upcoming season.

"I will in my hoop" - Probably best not to give away too much detail on this but suffice to say it means you refuse to do something.
"Twas a real dose" - A pain in the hoop.
"Cute Hoor (wh*re)" - No it isnt a pretty street walker but someone who is particularly crafty. Neil Back was a cute hoor!
"A gas ticket" - Someone who is amusing. I like Simon Zebo he is a gas ticket.
"Deadly" - Great. That was a deadly match.
"Any craic" - Anything fun/interesting happening
"A rake of" - a lot of

Feel free to send me any your own colloquial curiosities from wherever you are from or add to the list if youre Oirish.

*some of these are borrowed from a recent article from the journal.ie

'Murray and Zebo combined well to score'- fairly self evident.

Can anyone clarify this for me?

What does the welsh phrase "on their day" actually mean? I assume it means "never" ??

GloriousEmpire wrote:Can anyone clarify this for me?

What does the welsh phrase "on their day" actually mean? I assume it means "never" ??

Ahh, the dour Kiwi sense of humour in full force. Seriously, I've never met such a miserable nation in my entire life! Cheer up, you've got the best rugby team by a country mile! You should be over the moon.

Bathman_in_London wrote:'Murray and Zebo combined well to score'- fairly self evident.

Both good at finding a gap.

You've met all of us Griff!  

Yeah but no, we played well. Every Kiwi sentence must start with a yeah but no. We don't like tall poppies so we must cut ourselves down at every opportunity.

Blerrie gatvol.

Afrikaans for bloody fedup.

You should hear that a lot from me this season.

Biltong wrote:Blerrie gatvol.

Afrikaans for bloody fedup.

You should hear that a lot from me this season.

I like that one, Welsh for tired is Wedi blino - similar !  

Popty ping.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Can anyone clarify this for me?

What does the welsh phrase "on their day" actually mean? I assume it means "never" ??

Mae gan y Cymry iaith ein hunain felly dim dywediad cymraeg yw 'on their day'.

Sure Guns, you missed a fair few.

He's a bollix.

Banjaxed.

Acting the maggot.

all good. Respect!

Courtesy of Alan Partridge - "What's de big oidea", "Oirland - der's more to it dan dis"
We do, of course, have our Irish friends to thank for the expression "garryowen" coming into standard usage
Another annoyingly overused expression by Irish captains is "winning the Rabo/Heineken Cup* (delete as appropriate) is the pinnacle of our work this season". Eff off and let someone else win something!!

Is "me move" the singular context of "we move"?

Not lied in Ireland for a while, but my favorite was a response to "Whats the craic?" was "Divil the bit" (nothing much). Thin that might be a very country thing to say though. 

Grandfather always used to say "a mhic" which i think is Irish for son.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Is "me move" the singular context of "we move"?

no. its the singular of yizer moves.

Stickit up inside in yer bollix.

Yerwan's so ugly the tide wouln't take her out.

If I had a garden growin full a mickeys I wouldn't let her look over the wall.

.............Well, as I went home on Friday night as drunk as drunk could be
I saw a head upon the bed where my bald head should be..............

On bad weather

"You wouldn't put a milk bottle out in it"

Hound of Harrow wrote:Sure Guns, you missed a fair few.

He's a bollix.

Banjaxed.

Acting the maggot.

I left it short to allow others add to the list.

Irish words in use in English:

Tory - as in Tory party. Derived from old Irish for robber.
Galore - probably not used much. From Irish go leor - a lot of.
Brogue - Irish for shoe
Hooligan - Derived from the Irish family name O'Houlihan
Slogan - sluagh-ghairm meaning battle cry

Guns.

Smithereens is another one.

Boycott. Not an Irish word but an Anglo Irish person in Ireland who the phrase was coined about.

Not that many Irish words in English. Several more appearing in the last few decades.

GunsGerms wrote:
Hooligan - Derived from the Irish family name O'Houlihan

So your admitting that the original Hooligan's are Irish?

A lot of these words are 'possible' derivations. There are loads of theories about where words and phrases originate.

I heard that 'smashing' is derived from Gaelic (as in, 'that was a smashing cup of tea'). Is that true?

Cyril wrote:A lot of these words are 'possible' derivations. There are loads of theories about where words and phrases originate.

I really enjoy making up really random origins for phrases and trying to get my mates misses to believe them, its good fun and I recommend it to anyone who knows some 'intelectual (SP)' types.

I like tweaking everyday phrases to make them insults. Like 'suck my thumb' and 'swallow my pride'.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:You've met all of us Griff!  

Yeah but no, we played well. Every Kiwi sentence must start with a yeah but no. We don't like tall poppies so we must cut ourselves down at every opportunity.

"Yeah, nah" I prefer Kia-less formal

Full credit to the opposition-immortalised by Fitzpatrick and continued on.

Biltong no babelas the day after? Not optimistic about SA's chances then hey.

So GE makes a joke and Griff says all Kiwis are humourless. I'm not quite sure how that works no matter how bad the joke is (I actually did chuckle mind you) but carry on I guess...

PS Love your work Luckless

I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:
Hooligan - Derived from the Irish family name O'Houlihan

So your admitting that the original Hooligan's are Irish?

Yes

Does anyone in UK use or have heard of the phrase "by Hook or by Crook"?

Effervescing Elephant wrote:I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

I've asked the question many times, but can vegans swallow?

GunsGerms wrote:Does anyone in UK use or have heard of the phrase "by Hook or by Crook"?

Wexford by any chance? Very old phrase over here as well. Some question as to where it truly originates from. Some say it comes from the gathering of firewood on common land ie you can take anything that can be reached by billhook or shepherds crook. Sounds a bit of a stretch to me though. Prefer the Irish origin theory.

Effervescing Elephant wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Does anyone in UK use or have heard of the phrase "by Hook or by Crook"?

Wexford by any chance? Very old phrase over here as well. Some question as to where it truly originates from. Some say it comes from the gathering of firewood on common land ie you can take anything that can be reached by billhook or shepherds crook. Sounds a bit of a stretch to me though. Prefer the Irish origin theory.

Yeah in Wexford there is a Headland called Hook head and across the bay that leads to Waterford a town called Crooke. Sounds plausable that someone once said that if Waterford is to be captured it will have to be by Hook or by Crooke and hence a phrase was born.

"by hook or by crook" is very well known in the UK.

I've never heard the Irish version. This explanation below sounds more likely to me.

it comes from the customs regulating which firewood local people could take from common land; they were allowed to take any branches that they could reach with a billhook or a shepherd's crook.

Effervescing Elephant wrote:I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

Off topic but a similar story about gullibility. I convinced Mrs Again that Noel and Liam Gallagher were the sons of Ryder Cup golfer Bernard Gallagher.

Actually thats not true at all they are the sons of the famous Donegal rocker Rory Gallagher.

Effervescing Elephant wrote:I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

EE, I meant to ask was that the most brazen attempt in history to get a girl to divest herself of her clothing in front of you? If so, I applaud you and doff my cap (but not at the same time as I only have two arms)

InjuredYetAgain wrote:

Effervescing Elephant wrote:I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

EE, I meant to ask was that the most brazen attempt in history to get a girl to divest herself of her clothing in front of you? If so, I applaud you and doff my cap (but not at the same time as I only have two arms)

 & also  

GunsGerms wrote:Actually thats not true at all they are the sons of the famous Donegal rocker Rory Gallagher.

So that makes them related to Dave Gallagher (he of the original All Blacks), Rory's great uncle.

All great Ulstermen - now yer suckin diesel!

"Don't be there til you're back."

For some reason my grandad used this instead of "hurry up"

The fox runs long - not quite sure, but I think it has something to do with 'you get there in the end'?

Lazy wind - a bloody cold wind, too lazy to go around you so it goes through you.

InjuredYetAgain wrote:

Effervescing Elephant wrote:I once convinced a vegan girl that cotton came from rabbits. She chucked out all her undies, t-shirts, anything with cotton on the label. Didn't have the heart to tell her i was joking. Also didn't mention that silk came from caterpillers arses.

Off topic but a similar story about gullibility. I convinced Mrs Again that Noel and Liam Gallagher were the sons of Ryder Cup golfer Bernard Gallagher.

I read a great story Noel Gallagher told about Liam. They were over at Noel's and Liam went to the fridge for something; he came back and asked Noel why there was a bottle of champagne in the fridge with a spoon in it. Noel explained that the spoon kept the champagne fizzy and fresh for longer. A few weeks later, Noel's over at Liam's and he goes to the fridge for something, where he finds a spoon in a bottle of milk.

Noel Gallagher has a flat near where I used to work in London. I've seen him a few times doing his shopping and all he ever seemed to have was Baxters tinned soup and a small loaf of white bread.
Clearly being a rock star means you don't have to learn to cook for yourself! Small bloke too.

I went to the third Test at Old Trafford and there was someone a few rows from me who looked like a Liam Gallagher impersonator. Every time he got up to go to the bar, people started singing 'Wonderwall'.

Possibly peculiar to Stroke City and the North West is that young people don't say (or at least didn't 30 years ago) "hello", "hi" or anything like that but greeted each other with "yes" - as in "Yes, Liam".
Other ones, the coach who instructed players to "line up in a bunch" and "pair up in threes".
I also love and one of the many expressions for drunkeness "Sure he had both sides of the road with him".
One for the Welsh posters, why is it when English tourists go into a pub/shop in Ireland and the locals speak Gaelic it's a wonderful sign of the survival of Irish culture but when the same thing happens in Wales it's becuase the locals are unfriendly?

Irish Londoner wrote:One for the Welsh posters, why is it when English tourists go into a pub/shop in Ireland and the locals speak Gaelic it's a wonderful sign of the survival of Irish culture but when the same thing happens in Wales it's becuase the locals are unfriendly?

Really not sure, must just be because the Irish are quaint, were us the Welsh are just rude?

Interestingly, my folk both have strong Hampshire accents despite living in Pembs for best part of 30 years (and Dad being born there too), but when they moved to a welsh speaking area 7 years ago, they went into the local pub (village of about 150 people tops) the locals were all talking welsh right until my old man started talking, and then all the locals started talking english instead, it was quite shocking as I expected it to be the other way around.

GunsGerms wrote:Actually thats not true at all they are the sons of the famous Donegal rocker Rory Gallagher.

Donegal rocker?

The man was Cork to his back teeth. Having met him and seen him interviewed on the subject.

Yes he was born in Ballyshannon, but he would hardly have remembered it.

I have no loyalty to cork OR donegal btw.

A right hockeying (copyright mostly Keith Wood, I'd say) - a severe defeat, cf shellacking in Oz.