Irish slang

About this list

Irish English has its own intensifiers and its own ways of expressing disapproval, and both show up here. Words also marked British are included when Wiktionary marks them as Irish.

155 words

give off

To fuss or whine.

class

great; fabulous

give a light

To care.

h'on

; Alternative spelling of hon² (“come on, bravo”).

take your oil

Accept the situation and stop complaining.

game ball

In good spirits; great, excellent.

head-the-ball

a stupid person; a nutcase

wide boy

A man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing.

mad

Intensifier; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly; very; unbelievably.

give someone their cards

To dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.

hand someone their cards

To dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.

cold iron

A bad omen.

transition years

Students doing a transition year.

cop off with

To successfully engage the company of someone for a period of time.

jerry

A chamber pot.

bobby

A police officer.

up sticks

To put up the mast of a ship in preparation for sailing.

angel dust

Clenbuterol, a banned drug formerly used in animal feedlots.

sweet FA

Nothing.

day dot

A very long time ago; as far back as one can remember.

give it socks

To go for it.

gut for

To want (something) desperately.

touch cloth

To be just on the point of soiling oneself.

spa

An idiot; a gobshite

throw shapes

To act tough or put up a front. For example, to threaten a person by making "karate chops" at them, without actually doing harm or knowing karate.

mint

Attractive; beautiful; handsome.

give a toss

To care.

suck diesel

To succeed; to do well.

cod

To joke; to kid.

burke

To murder by suffocation.

take the mickey

To ridicule or mock someone; to make fun of someone.

jam sandwich

(from the common UK colour scheme of white with a red reflective horizontal band) A police car.

pain in the bum

Someone or something very annoying.

chalk it down

To agree enthusiastically.

in the pudding club

Pregnant.

dog's dinner

A complete mess.

in rag order

In a state of mess or chaos.

up oneself

Smug; arrogant; self-important and self-satisfied.

ming

To be unattractive (person or object).

flute around

To waste time.

moth

A girlfriend.

gee-eyed

Very drunk.

bunk out

Synonym of bunk off.

wally

A fool.

geez

Informal address to a male.

div

Divinity, as a school subject.

eff and blind

To swear; to use swear words.

no duff

Indicating that this is not a drill or training exercise.

up the duff

Pregnant.

yer one

An unknown or unnamed person.

dat fella

An unknown or unnamed person.

telly

A hotel or motel.

slag off

To talk insultingly to or about someone or something; usually one who is not present.

Leaving Cert

A student in their 6th year of secondary school.

Junior Cert

Clipped compound of Junior Certificate.

clapped out

Exhausted, worn out.

footer

To meddle with or pass time without accomplishing anything meaningful.

mot

A woman; a wife.

fong

A kick.

bishop's collar

a pint of black stout (or similar) having too much head on top.

toffee apple

A kind of British trench mortar used in World War I.

fish-and-chipper

A chip shop

gat

Guinness (type of beer).

bap

The head.

jocks

Underwear.

devo

Devastated.

dicky up

To adorn, dress up, spruce up.

nicked

Stolen.

gob

The mouth.

gaff

A place of residence.

wooden onesie

coffin

swot

One who swots; a boffin, nerd, or smart aleck.

chippy

A carpenter.

fluted

Drunk; intoxicated.

jointed

Extremely full of people, packed, chockablock.

prat

A fool, contemptible person.

doss

The avoidance of work.

gobsmacked

Flabbergasted, astounded, speechless, overawed.

sambo

A sandwich.

spider's ankles

Something that is regarded as outstanding.

Norrie

A person from the north side of Cork City, Ireland.

steamboats

Drunk; intoxicated.

skint

Penniless, poor, impecunious, broke.

spliff

A cannabis cigarette.

dosh

Money.

slapper

A woman of loose morals.

feck

To steal.

recce

Reconnaissance.

buggered

Tired, worn-out, exhausted.

Lurgan champagne

Buckfast Tonic Wine, a brand of fortified wine.

lege

A legend; colloquially used to describe a person who is held in high regard.

grotty

Unpleasant, dirty, slovenly or offensive.

stroppy

Ornery, fractious, belligerent, or obstreperous, and hence difficult to deal with.

manky

Unpleasantly dirty and disgusting.

chunder

Vomit.

caff

Synonym of café.

chancer

A scheming opportunist.

cute hoor

A shrewd scoundrel, especially in business or politics.

recco

Reconnaissance.

feen

(young) man, guy, bloke

scran

Food, especially that of an inferior quality; grub.

morto

Very embarrassed or embarrassing.

yonks

A long time (especially a longer time than expected); ages

nark

A police spy or informer.

shant

A drink, usually a pint.

minging

Very unattractive; ugly.

gouger

A thug or lout.

me daza

(usually predicative) excellent, great, very nice, fine

offy

An off-licence.

squaddie

A private in the army.

bevvy

To get drunk.

TYs

Students doing a transition year.

oik

a member of the lower classes.

scatty

Scatterbrained; flighty.

codswallop

Senseless talk or writing; nonsense; rubbish.

ciggy

A cigarette.

get out

Expressing disapproval or disgust, especially after a bad joke.

well

Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).

here

Used for emphasis at the beginning of a sentence when expressing an opinion or want.

sound

Good; acceptable; decent.

nick

A police station or prison.

rough

Somewhat ill; sick; in poor condition.

legend

A cool, nice or helpful person, especially one who is male.

producer

An arrest for speeding after which the driver is allowed seven (in the UK) or ten (in Ireland) days to produce his/her driving licence and related documents at a police station.

on the hop

Playing truant from school.

pan out

To fall asleep.

blocked

Drunk.

sketch

A lookout; vigilant watch for something.

artillery

One or more guns.

fierce

Excellent, very good.

rotten

Very drunk, intoxicated.

greenhouse

A public toilet.

lag

A prisoner, a criminal.

jockey

A rapist.

bloke

(A lower deck term for) the captain or executive officer of a warship, especially one regarded as tough on discipline and punishment.

pear-shaped

Usually in the phrase go pear-shaped: wrong, awry.

rake

A lot, plenty.

blower

Telephone.

flake

To hit (another person).

on the trot

on the run; fleeing

yoke

A pill of a psychoactive drug.

punter

One who gambles or bets.

bowser

A buffoon or imbecile.

zed

A zombie.

snapper

A (human) baby.

minted

wealthy

chipper

A fish and chip shop, or more generally a cheap fast food outlet, typically selling chips and other deep-fried foods.

lolly

Money.

pare

To sharpen a pencil.

paralytic

Very drunk.

scrubber

A dirty or unhygienic person.

ossified

Drunk.

scabby

stingy; scrounging.

faff

An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.

bonce

The human head.