‘That young lad was in here last night acting the maggot’. they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. If a person is ‘Acting the maggot’ they’re messing around / dossing… i.e. This next section dives into Irish phrases and Irish slang words that I’ve said in the past and that have gone completely over peoples heads. Over the course of my time there, I received my fair share of strange looks when I said certain things.
In my last job, I worked in a building with around 250 people from 34 different countries. Photo by Gardiner Mitchell via Tourism Ireland 12 – 22: Funny Irish phrases and slang that confused my non-Irish friends when we first met For example, ‘Feck this, I’m not listening to him shiting on for any longer’, or ‘That fecker was in here mooching about the place again this morning.’ I don’t use the word ‘feck’ personally, but it’s a word that I associate with the magnificent Father Ted series, which is why it’s part of my favourites.įeck is a polite way of saying ‘f*ck’. It describes a situation or a person that’s no fun.įor example, ‘I called over yesterday and he was going on about his new tractor for an hour. This is hands-down one of my most-used Irish sayings. For example, ‘She’s up there giving out to Tony about something’.
‘Giving out’ literally means to complain. It wasn’t until a friend from the UK said he didn’t know what I was on about the first time we met and I used it in a sentence. So, I thought ‘giving out’ was something used globally… genuinely. Giving out (I didn’t realise this was an Irish expression until recently) Hang on there for a second and I’ll leg it over to you now!’ 9. You can leg it to the shops, or you can leg it around the corner to meet one of the lads.įor example, ‘Shite man I’m running late. For example, ‘Sorry pal – can you tell me where the jacks is?!’ 8. If you hear someone saying that they’re ‘Going to the jacks’ or maybe someday someone will ask you ‘Where are the jacks’ in an Irish bar somewhere in the world, they’re referring to the toilet. It’s used to describe something (or someone) that’s not working/broken.įor example, ‘Did you get it printed?’ ‘No, the thing’s banjaxed sure’ or ‘The f*cking car won’t start again – the engine’s banjaxed’. Banjaxedīanjaxed is another lovely Irish expression. If you’ve read our detailed guide to Irish insults, you’ll have an idea of the types of slags that Irish people throw at each other.įor example, ‘He was slagging me, so I gave him a kick in the bollox’. Can you give it a lash with your jump cables?’ or ‘I’ve never tried that before, but sure I’ll give it a lash’. In a nutshell, ‘give it a lash’ means to give something a go.įor example, ‘The car won’t start. You can use ‘give it a lash’ in a heap of different ways. Give it a lash (one of my favourite Irish phrases) Now, there’s another potential use for this Irish phrase, and that’s when describing someone that’s bull-thick (aka angry).įor example, ‘She’s been up to 90 since she came home and saw what the dog did to the couch in the living room’. You’ll often hear this one used in response to questions like ‘How was work today’ – ‘Ah, shtap – sure I’ve been up to 90 since half 7’. ‘Up to 90’ means flat out busy doing something. This Irish expression gets more than it’s fair share of use and isn’t specific to any particular county. For example, ‘Don’t be worrying about it, it’s grand’. It’s worth noting that when someone says that they’re ‘grand’, they may not necessarily be so. You’ll hear it most commonly used as a response to, ‘How’s it going’/’How are you feeling?’/’How are you today?’.
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However, it can also be an indication that the person you’re speaking to is either 1, uninterested in what you’re saying, or 2, has no idea how to respond to what you’ve just said.įor example, ‘Sure look, what can ye do?!’ 2. If you’re chatting to someone and they reply with ‘Sure look’ it tends to mean ‘it is what it is’.
Here are some Irish phrases that I find my self using CONSTANTLY. In Ireland, many of us use slang words so often that we forget they’re actually slang, for example, ‘Thanks a million’ makes absolutely zero sense to non-Irish people (or so my non-Irish friends tell me!) Mainly when I’m speaking to a non-Irish person and I forget that the words I’m using actually are slang. And it tends to cause a bit of confusion, at times. Photo by Arthur Ward via Tourism Ireland 1- 11: My Favourite Irish slang words and phrases
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