An American’s Guide to Irish Slang: Part II

After covering some of the more colorful expressions in a post about Irish slang, I continued to hear new words and phrases being used all around me, and I realized that I’d have to write a Part II.

-When referring to another person:

In the plural: “Yous” (or maybe youse, however you want to phonetically spell it). Eschewing the y’all of the American South and the more cumbersome “all of you,” the Irish choose a more simple and straightforward solution for addressing a group of people. Slap the plural ‘s’ on it. Of course, with the Irish accent, it comes out sounding more like ‘yehs’, without the ‘/oo/’ of the American ‘you’.

Example at a pub, at the end of the session: “Thanks everyone, we’ll be seein’ yous next week.”

In the singular: “Ye”. Now, we all know ‘ye.’ We know that the Brits, Irish, and Pilgrims all used to use it, and anyone can probably name half a dozen “Ye Olde” shops in any city. But, I never realized that it was still used, and commonly so. There’s nothing so funny as overhearing a teenager asking a friend, “Will ye be coming with us?”

Example: Near the end of the first term of one of my music classes, one of the guys asked the group at large, “Will any of ye be continuing on?”

-“Good craic”

I delved into the Irish word ‘craic’ a bit last time, with “What’s the craic?”, and I mentioned as well that its actual translation is usually ‘fun’. The expression ‘good craic’ is frequently used to describe, well, naturally, a place or event that’s a really good time.

Example: If I were Irish and someone were to ask me about my dance classes, I’d probably respond, “Oh, it’s good craic!”

-“Thanks a mill'”

This one is pretty straightforward: an abbreviation of “thanks a million” that I hear frequently.

-“No bother”

This is another phrase that is very common and probably equates to the American English “no problem” after a “thank you”.

-“Mind yer’self”

Said as a farewell, this phrase surprised me the first time I hear it. It makes me feel like, well, like I’m not good at taking care of myself and the person is making an extra effort to tell me to be careful. But, as I heard it more frequently, I realized that Americans express almost the same sentiment with “take care”.

 

On the topic of Irish and American differences, I’ll leave you with an anecdote. My dance classes are taught by an Irish American who was raised in Georgia, so her accent is thoroughly American. In a class filled with Irish people, it’s nice to have a little U.S. camaraderie with the teacher (I’m a suck up, I know). Last week we had a treat when she brought in a fiddle player so we could dance to live music, and after putting us in small groups to review the new steps from the week before, she came over to the group I was in to see how we were getting on. After we showed her what we remembered of the routine, I commented that it was cool to have a musician there. “I know, right?” she answered, “Yeah, it’s awesome!” I replied, probably gesticulating wildly in my enthusiasm. One of the older Irish ladies eyed us both, before interjecting, “Ye’re both American, aren’t ye?” “Yes,” I replied. “Mmm. Americans get very excited about things,” she commented. I could practically hear the “tut!” in her voice.