Top 80 Irish Slang Words: The Gift of the Gab
Gift of The Gab
Arriving in Ireland, you may be forgiven for thinking you have been hoodwinked, cajoled, led up the garden path, or just plain misinformed as to the language widely spoken here. Since before time us Irish have managed to invent our very own slang words and phrases to unleash on all unfamiliar with the lingo! Here, I have highlighted the most commonly heard words, their meanings, and provided examples of how they are used in everyday speech. Have fun: you will be talking like a seasoned pro in no time!
Don't forget to test your slang street cred and your gift of the gab ability, by taking my small quiz at the end!
OK... Lets get started alphabetically.
Irish Terminology A-D
Slang Word or Phrase
| Meaning
| Example
|
|---|---|---|
• Acting the maggot
| Fooling and messing around
| Stop acting the maggot
|
• Bad dose
| Severe illness
| You got a bad dose of it, didn't you
|
• Bags (To make a bags of something)
| Make a mess of doing something
| He made a right bags of that
|
• Bang on
| Right, accurate, correct
| You are bang on
|
• Banjaxed
| Broken
| The chair is banjaxed
|
• Black stuff
| Guinness
| A pint of the black stuff please
|
• Boyo
| Male, juvenile
| Come on you boyo!
|
• Brutal
| Awful, dreadful
| It was a brutal tackle
|
• Bucketing down
| Raining hard
| It is bucketing down
|
• Bunk off
| Skip (school, work)
| I know you bunked off today
|
• Chancer
| Someone who takes a risk
| He is a real chancer
|
• Chiseler
| Young child (Dublin slang)
| He was a chiseler at the time
|
• Ciotóg
| Left-handed
| I am a Ciotog and proud
|
• Cod/Codding ya
| To pull someone's leg
| I am only codding ya!
|
• Craic
| Fun, gossip, going-ons
| What's / Where's the craic?
|
• Crack on
| Continue on, get going
| I must crack on, lots to do
|
• Culchie
| Person from rural / agricultural area
| She is a culchie originally
|
• Cute hoor
| Person who quietly engineers things to their own advantage
| He is a real cute hoor
|
• Delira and excira
| Delighted and excited (Dublin slang)
| Are you delira and excira about it?
|
• Deadly
| Brilliant, fantastic, great
| That was a deadly film
|
There are no strangers here, only friends that we have not yet met.
— William Butler YeatsIrish Terminology D-G
Slang Word or Phrase
| Meaning
| Example
|
|---|---|---|
• Donkey's years
| For a very very long time
| They have lived there donkey's years
|
• Dosser
| Someone not working or is messing about, up to no good
| They are a couple of dosser's
|
• Eat the head off
| To give out to someone
| Don't eat the head off me
|
• Eejit
| Complete fool, doing something silly
| You are such an eejit
|
• Earwiging
| Listening in on a private conversation
| You were earwiging again, Yes?
|
• Effin' and blindin'
| Swearing and cursing
| He was effin' and blindin' non stop
|
• Eff off
| Polite swear word (for the F word)
| Ah just eff off will ya
|
• Fair play!
| Well done!
| Fair play mate!
|
• Feck off
| Go away (polite version), used to show surprise or shock
| Feck off . . . . don't be bothering me
|
• Fella
| Used for your guy, as in 'Me Fella' partner/husband/boyfriend
| Is your fella going to be there?
|
• Fierce
| Very good, great, excellent
| It was a fierce performance
|
• Fine thing
| Good looking man or woman
| That guy is a fine thing
|
• Floozie
| Woman of dubious moral attributes
| The place is full of floozie's
|
• Fluthered
| Very drunk
| I was absolutely fluthered last night
|
• Gaff
| Home, to have a 'free gaff' means you are home alone
| I will pop over to your gaff later
|
• Gammy
| Crooked, or odd looking
| He had a gammy leg
|
• Gander
| Quick glance
| Take a quick gander in here first
|
• Gas
| Funny or amusing
| He is a gas man
|
• Gawk
| To stare rudely
| Stop gawking
|
• Get outta that garden
| Fun phrase used in a conversation to get a laugh, reaction
| wud ya get outta that garden!!!
|
A life making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.
— George Bernard ShawIrish Terminology G-M
Slang Word or Phrase
| Meaning
| Example
|
|---|---|---|
• Grand
| A lot of uses, most popular are: reply to how are you, how are you feeling, being told of a decision
| We will meet you there - " Grand "; Dinner will be 10 minutes - " Grand "
|
• Hames/haymes
| Complete mess
| I made a complete haymes of that work
|
• Holy Joe
| Self righteous person
| She is a bit of a holy joe actually
|
• Holy show
| Disgraceful scene
| She made a holy show of herself
|
• How's she cuttin'?
| Hi, how are you, what's news?
| How's she cuttin'?
|
• Howya
| Hi, hello
| Howya doin'?
|
• Jackeen
| A rural person's name for a Dubliner
| You are a jackeen . . . .my sympathies!
|
• Jacks
| Toilet
| I'm off to the jacks
|
• Jo Maxi
| Taxi, cab
| We can get a jo maxi in later
|
• Kip
| A dump of a place and also a sleep
| I had a quick kip before dinner; It was a real kip of a hotel
|
• Knackered
| Exhausted, tired
| I was completely knackered
|
• Langers
| Drunk
| She was totaly langers last Friday
|
• Lash
| Three meanings: to rain hard, to make an attempt at something or to go out drinking
| It was lashing out of the heavens, Give it a lash or Let's go on the lash Saturday
|
• Leg it
| Run away quickly
| Come on, we need to leg it now!
|
• Locked
| Very drunk
| He was totally locked at closing time
|
• Manky
| Dirty, filthy, disgusting
| My hair feels manky, it needs a wash
|
• Moran
| Fool
| He looks a right moran
|
• Mortified
| Highly embarrassed
| I was mortified when I realised my mistake
|
• Mot
| Girlfriend (Dublin slang)
| Where's your mot tonight?
|
• Murder
| Very difficult or to really want to do something
| Finding a taxi was murder, I could murder a Guinness
|
The Emerald Isle: Ireland
The Four Leaf Clover: Fact or Fiction?
Actually it does exist although rare! Legend says that if you find one each leaf has a meaning.
- The first is for Faith.
- The second is for Hope.
- The third is for Love.
- The fourth is for Luck.
Irish Terminology N-T
Slang Word or Phrase
| Meaning
| Example
|
|---|---|---|
• Nixer
| Job done for cash to avoid tax
| He can do it as a nixer for you
|
• Not the full shilling
| Not fully sane
| I don't think he is the full shilling
|
• On the tear
| Going drinking
| We were on the tear last night
|
• Ossified
| Drunk
| W got ossified
|
• Oul fella
| Your father, dad (Dublin slang)
| My oul fella is out at the moment
|
• Oul dear/oul wan
| Your mother, mom
| My oul dear is out shopping
|
• Pictures
| Movies, film
| We went to the pictures a week ago
|
• Puss (to have a puss on you)
| Sulky face
| Take that puss off your face
|
• Rugger bugger
| Someone posh, loud, and loves Rugby
| He is a rugger bugger for sure
|
• Savage
| Great, brilliant
| It was a savage contest till the end
|
• Scarlet
| Very embarrassed
| I was scarlet
|
• Shattered
| Exhausted
| After driving, I was shattered
|
• Slag
| nb: Use a verb to mean make fun of someone in a nice way or else it has the same meaning as elsewhere i.e. - common prostitute
| He was only slagging you, don't worry
|
• Sorry
| Means sorry and also excuse me, pardon me
| Sorry, can I get in there please
|
• Story? (What's the)
| Hi, what's happening
| What's the story Rory?
|
• Suckin' diesel (Now you're)
| Now you're talking, now you're doing well
| Now you are suckin diesel my friend!
|
• The pale
| Anywhere in the region of Dublin
| I am living just outside The Pale
|
• Thick
| Extremely stupid
| He is as thick as a plank
|
• Throw shapes
| Show off, sometimes agressively
| They were all throwing shapes in the pub
|
• Trinners
| Trinity College Dublin
| Did you go to Trinners to do your degree?
|
At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
— W. Somerset MaughamIrish Slang Quiz -
view quiz statistics© 2012 Suzanne Ridgeway
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Top 80 Irish Slang Words - The Gift Of The Gab Comments
Very helpful for my book that is based out of Dingle Ireland, and I am a California girl!
Is there any way to just say very or really? Or something along those lines? Like very sorry?
This is extremely useful when your In Ireland.
Born in New Ross, County Wexford but we most commonly used the word craic.
jasus be morphy!
Im a pure irish woman, born and raised ,im surprised ,ive heard all of these but the most common ive heard are ,acting the maggot ,craic, ejit ,black stuff ,eff off ,feck off, and lots more .
I'm definitely gonna need this if I wanna go to Ireland!
I said like alllllllllll of these to people I know and they were soooooooooo confused
My father, from Dublin, often says: Jaysus! It would make you jump up and never come down again!
is there a slang word for insult?
A great fun hub, really well put together, great stuff, well done, thanks for sharing, voted up, Lee
Suzanne, this was a real interesting read about the top Irish slang words and their meanings. Voted up!
Those words make no sense
Great fun!! Thank you for sharing those great Irish slang words with us :) Brilliant. Have a great week.
brill site ! and I went to Trinners !!!
- AUTHOR
Hi Laura,
Glad you enjoyed!
Hahaha that was gas! :P Reall fun and great craic ;)
- AUTHOR
Nice one buachaildana, quite an appropriate name! LOL
gwan oura dat ye bleedin' mad ting. ur aulfellas a durtburd for sayin i stroked ur scratcher out d gaf man. he can ask me bollix if he tinks im gettin into a barney wit him over it the poxbottle, sure ur aulwan kno's wot he's like n all inanyways dya kno worimean pal. nice wan yea, cyerafter.
- AUTHOR
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for the comment! Had no idea those words were common in Australia. I lived in NZ for a year and did not hear any Aussies use them either. Funny how some are in both but then maybe not since so many Irish are there! Thanks so much!
You have no idea how much of this I recognised... and I've never been to Ireland! So much of this looks like Australian slang to me.
I hear things like "deadly", "donkey's years", "fella", "knackered", "we legged it outta there", "mortified", "we went to the pictures" and so on on an almost daily basis, just to name a few. Oh, and "it's bucketing down" comes up semi-regularly in winter (you know, when it actually rains).
And who said Strine was an Australian invention?
- AUTHOR
Hi Blond Logic,
Many thanks for visit and comments. With all the different slang and the different accents going on it makes for a very crazy world of language! In England there are so many curious expressions or slang too so no wonder you found it daunting. Thanks so much for input!
Wonderful. I lived in Britain for many years and when I first arrived, I couldn't understand a word they were saying, "You alright me duck?"
That said at speed, did not sound like English.
You have compiled a great list here.
- AUTHOR
Hi upal19,
Many thanks hope it made some sense to you! Appreciate your comment!
I learned from it. So nice!
- AUTHOR
Hi Jeff,
LOL . .OMG, how did that one escape me? You are so right, and I am forever using it! From always working with the public, I often say "Are you okay?" when meaning "may I help you?" and never thought of it being another "Irish" saying or phrase but it obviously is one! There are hundreds of slang I could use but had to limit this list somewhere! maybe another part is needed?? Appreciate greatly you reading and bringing your experience to light, great comment, i love it!
Great stuff! Voted Useful, Interesting, and Up.
It's funny, though: the thing that wrong-footed me when I first arrived in Ireland isn't on this list. Every time I went to buy something in a sandwich shop or get a bed at a hostel, the person behind the counter would ask me, "Are you okay?" For the first day or so, I thought I might be coming down with something. Then I ended up third in line and heard the woman behind the counter ask everyone if they were okay, and I realized that "Are you okay?" is just the Irish version of "How can I help you?"
Had a good laugh at myself. :)
- AUTHOR
Thanks Nelly.
Very funny. It's for a poem and I can just see the look on people's faces in the workshop. Although, it might be fun as a joke. Too bad April Fools' Day is past.
- AUTHOR
Good Line! Thanks
Definition of a farmer a man how is outstanding in his own field
- AUTHOR
Your welcome Nelly!
Thanks so much. Will do.
Nelly
- AUTHOR
Hi Nelly Crowe,
Appreciate you dropping in! i don't know of a slang term or colloquial term for farmer i'm afraid but check it out online or in an Irish slang dictionary. Hope this helps!
Great page! Looking for a slang or colloquial term for farmer. Can you help?
- AUTHOR
Niam,
Afraid I am not familiar with bant except being short for banter, as in chat, talk. Hope that helps!
What does 'has the bant' mean?
Sentence: run down has the bant and gets it off him.
Ya see i'm in a play and i really need to know what to do....
- AUTHOR
Hi lemonkerdz,
Welcome! Wow, what a journey Swords to Peru, my bucket list no.1 stop! Thanks for dropping by and commenting. Funny you say you have never been here, you sound very Irish!! Glad you enjoyed this you may enjoy the humour in my other Irish hub, so you want to be Irish !! Looking forward to reading more of your work here! Appreciate your votes!
man i loved this article, my family came from Swords in ireland, although i have never been, but it was amazing to read a lot of expressions that me and my brothers use are in your irish slang words..and the others....well we learned them from watching "Father Ted" bless him, he opened up ireland to the world. thanks for a great hub, voted up from me.
- AUTHOR
Hi Jeff,
Like your use of a bit of slang, your are coming on grand and soon you will be suckin diesel me ol' flower!
Glad you have been getting some mileage out of the jacks at work!! LOL
Appreciate your reading,votes and sharing!
Glad I took a gander at this hub Suzie HQ :), I studied the words until I was completely knackered. Savage hub for reference, someday I'm makin it to the Pale for a pint of the Black stuff. I'm not slagging you, It's on the top of my list. Voted Up and Sharing, then I'm off to the Jacks!
- AUTHOR
Hi ElleBee,
Many thanks for reading this! Glad you found it interesting and came upon words you recognised. It is amazing how us Irish pop up everywhere, happy to hear a community are thriving in Massachusetts!!! Appreciate your interest and comments Elle Bee! :-)
Interesting! A few of these I actually wouldn't have even known were slang, because I have used/heard them so much (namely gawked, brutal and mortified). Then again I live in Massachusetts, and it sometimes seems we have as many Irish people as Ireland does :) Certainly interesting - esepcially how some of these phrases we also use, but for entirely different purpose. If someone told me they were shattered, I'd think they were drunk not tired!
- AUTHOR
Hi Mama Kim,
Thanks for stopping by! Glad you enjoyed it was fun putting together! Appreciate your votes and sharing MK!!!!
This is fantastic!! I can't wait to use some of these ^_^
I'm voting and sharing this all over!!
- AUTHOR
Hi RC,
What quick work you are! Thanks very much for your comments, much appreciated this part of the globe! You would be lead to believe us Irish speak the English but don't be fooled!! LOL Check out my other Irish hub sometime for a real "flavour" of warped Irish humour! lol Thanks again RC. :-)
Suzi -
And I thought the Irish spoke English! lol
My cousin does professional Irish dancing and has visited there every year. She is in love with the countryside and the people. I, unfortunately, have never been there, but would love to some day.
Still smiling over some of the expressions! Great Hub!
- AUTHOR
Hi Pamela,
I am so glad you enjoyed this compilation of Irish slang. Many are used without us even realizing we must sound odd to foreign visitors! Hopefully you will get to visit us over this neck of the woods and have a head start in the speech! Thanks again for commenting, it is much appreciated!
Great information Suzie HQ. Love the lists and entertaining hub. Now, if I can just figure out how to afford that trip to Ireland I long for. Voted up and across.
- AUTHOR
Thanks Daniel, Appreciate your comments! Must be interesting teaching our slang abroad! Thanks again:-) !!
Funny reading that as I have taught Irish slang to students abroad :). Nice work :)
This is very interesting hub... I would have ever guessed the meaning of some of these words and phrases! I have never been to Ireland but if I am lucky enough to get the chance to visit, your hub here will come in quite useful! Voting up and useful..thank you for sharing :)
- AUTHOR
Thanks Relationshipc, Appreciate your comments and visit! It is interesting that you found slang in Newfoundland hard to understand! So many cultures adopt their own language as if in code it seems! LOL Glad you enjoyed this insight into us Irish a wee bit!!
- AUTHOR
Hi fpherj48, Thanks so much for your lovely comments which definitely made me laugh! Us Irish are a canny lot! LOL It's funny that you mention dating an Irishman. I for years always dated foreign men and then met an Irishman on a blind date and that was 5 yrs ago, still going strong!! Appreciate your support!!
It's easy enough to see the words now, but to hear them - that's a whole different story. Lol.
I recently went to Newfoundland, and they have a lot of different slang words also. I spent a lot of time nodding and smiling, and then admitting I had no idea what they were talking about. Their accent didn't help one bit - especially after a few drinks.
I really LOVE this hub!! because I love the IRISH. Seriously...never met one that I didn't take to immediately! They're very funny and fun-loving.......I dated a pure Irishman for a couple of years.....laughed straight through all 2 years!!
I must have really absorbed your words and meanings because I scored 100% on the test! LOL..........
Thanks so much for this Suzie! UP+++
- AUTHOR
Thanks mollymeadows for visiting and commenting, I appreciate it! Here's hoping you will get to use here soon!!
- AUTHOR
Hi Just Ask Susan,
Thanks so much for your great comments! I did have fun compiling this, it has to be said! We Irish do have some odd words we use everyday! Hope you get to visit here in the near future, you will then be up to speed fully armed with the lingo!
Loved this! Now if I can only save enough to go to Ireland so I can test out my nifty new words! Thanks for the fun hub!
What a gas :) Really enjoyed your hub. Have to bookmark it as I do plan on making it over to Ireland one of these years.
- AUTHOR
Hi clevercat, Thanks so much for visiting, glad it gave you a chuckle or two! You've highlighted one phrase used quite a bit here! LOL maybe due to the fact us Irish are a wee bit mad at times! Appreciate your voting :-)
Yes! 100%! :^D What a fun hub. I may have to pepper my States language with these soon, especially "not the full shilling"! Voted up, funny, and awesome.
- AUTHOR
Hi How-to-crafts, Appreciate your comments and sharing! We do use many weird and wonderful words don't we!!
A great selection of slang words we use in our daily conversations here in Dublin. I enjoyed reading them.
Shared on Twitter and voted up
- AUTHOR
Hi annart, Thanks so much for reading and voting, appreciate your comments!
Much fun was had compiling our unusual language here!! lol Glad you enjoyed!
Voted up, funny and interesting. I'll have to re-read this to get the full effect of all the phrases! Some I know already so I guess they've been taken on as British or slid over the Irish Sea. This is a well-written, fun hub. Congrats. Looking forward to reading more.
- AUTHOR
Ha!! Glad you found hilarious! For a little island we talk quite a bit of ?@*?@ !!!! Sure you can find that vacation time, your hubs may suffer though!!!lol Appreciate your support and comments!
Suzie, this was a hilarious hub! Now, you have sparked within me an interest and desire to go to Ireland! :) If only I could find some vacation time... :)
- AUTHOR
All true,my friend:)
- AUTHOR
Thought there was a hint of the 'ol Irish charm there!! Thanks from this here lass!!
@ Susie Q . . .thank YOU for your kind comments as well. Kenneth
Dear Susie Q,
you are very welcome to hear the truth about your amazing writing from me any day. And FYI, my ancestors came from Old Ireland. Yes. Proud of that too, lassie! (no correlation to the collie, Lassie, on TV), just waited to say that word. I love it.
Your friend, Kenneth
- AUTHOR
Your a scream, Cheers Kenneth!!!!
- AUTHOR
Speechless Kenneth! A first for me!! lol Appreciate your incredibly kind words soooo much. It was a fun hub to write, us Irish are good at making fun (polite term!!) of ourselves! Look forward to catching more of your insightful writing!:)
@ Susie: Sorry I forgot. I Voted UP and all the way on this hub. Great, great job! LOVED IT.
Hello, Dear Susie,
Here are some words I want to leave you that tell you how I describe this hub: AMAZING; THRILLING; PROFESSIONALLY-WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED; DELIGHTFUL; HYPNOTIC and FUN TO READ. So glad that I found YOU on Hubs.
You are destined for success in writing. I can sense that.
Kenneth
- AUTHOR
Thanks viking305, The good old garda, thanks for that, a good one! Had fun compiling, thinking there really is soooo many, where did they all come from?!! Appreciate your input and votes!!
It is amazing how many of these slang words we use daily here in Dublin lol. I did not realise it until I read your list. Great hub and I enjoyed reading it.
One you might want to include is Guards. We use it all the time but foreigners would not know it is the slang for our police
Shared on Twitter and voted awesome and useful
- AUTHOR
Delighted it gave laughter to start the day, billybuc!! Had a good laugh writing and thinking god we speak a lot of rubbish!! Lol appreciate you commenting!
What a great hub! I had a wonderful laugh to begin my day with...thank you! One day I will get over there and look up my ancestors, the O'Dowds....greatly enjoyed this hub!
- AUTHOR
rajan jolly, Thanks so much for your lovely comments! Glad you enjoyed and i appreciate your votes and sharing! It was a fun hub to write and laughs all the way!!
- AUTHOR
Glad you enjoyed Gypsy Rose Lee! As long as it didn't put you off visiting our wee Emerald Isle! Appreciate your votes and sharing!!
Voted up and funny. I loved this. Always have wanted to see Ireland now I can practice up on the slang. Thanks for sharing and passing this on.
A great idea to put together a hub on slangs. Very interesting and useful as well. Bookmarked it.
I wish more people write hubs with slangs used in their countries as well.
Voted up all the way. Shared it too.
- AUTHOR
Cheers chef-de-jour!!LOL what an idea!! Appreciate your comments!
Lovely hub. Should be framed and in a pub.
- AUTHOR
Thanks vespawoolf! You will just have to make a return trip!! LOL Glad you enjoyed, appreciate your continued support and votes:-)
This is great!! I wish I'd had your list before we traveled to Ireland in 2010. We had a wonderful time and although we didn't always understand we had fun trying. Voted up and shared!
- AUTHOR
Thanks Made, I had fun writing this one!Hopefully it gives a brief intro into the popular words visitors will hear and not run a mile!!
- AUTHOR
Cheers Brett.Tesol!! Interesting on it being close to Essex slang, that's a new one . . .maybe a hub! lol Thanks for your comments and votes, much appreciated!!
Very interesting and it's always nice to learn new words. This is also a good hub if you want to go to Ireland.
LMAO! A lot of it seems to be similar to Essex slang ... but, then I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing lol.
Shared, up and funny.
- AUTHOR
Thanks anginwu, your a good student of Irish slang then!!! Glad you enjoyed and found fun.Appreciate your comments as always :-)
Very interesting. Had fun reading all the slang words, some familiar, some not so. And I made perfect score too. Thanks for sharing.
- AUTHOR
Hi ya oh he from the Samui isle!! More of a cliché to be honest! I would only really use "to be sure, to be sure" as a form of emphasizing Irishness, and in a funny way. It is a saying that is often known, as you rightly point out, thanks for the query!!
What about "to be sure, to be sure"? Or is that just a cliché?!
- AUTHOR
Thanks tirelesstraveler,Glad you enjoyed learning a few of our odd words and phrases!! I am sure your friend will be impressed!! Thanks for reading and comments!
Wonderful! Love Ireland. My friend will be so proud of my new words when she comes over in August.
I love it! I love the Celtic heritage and studied much of the literature but there isn't much slang involved. Long as a donkey's years.. these are very interesting and I love learning about new cultures.
Hi Suzie! I got 100% right on your quiz. It seems that it´s a donkey years now that I have heard some of these words. Thanks for sharing. It reminds me of my wonderful years in Ireland.
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