Dublin English
Created | Updated Jan 9, 2012
Despite being known as West Brit-land by the rest of Ireland, Dublin has its own distinct brand of 'the English language' which can trap the unwary. Here's a brief summary of the words and phrases you'll come across.
| Aul' fellah | Father. |
| Aul' wan | Mother. |
| Blow-in | A tourist or migrant worker, or anyone whose family moved to Ireland in the last ... well, in recorded history, really. Used in the put down 'Arra, sure but ye're just a blow in, what would you know?'. |
| 'boutye | A term which means 'How are you?'. This is a clue that the person talking to you is from the North. |
| Culchie | A farmer or someone from rural Ireland. |
| Eating the face off | Arguing with - quite a graphical description. |
| -een | Small or young like a young girl is a 'girleen'. |
| Grand | Fine or OK1. |
| Getting a rise out of | Getting an angry reaction. |
| Gouger | A nasty-looking person - mostly of women. |
| Gourrier | A petty criminal or untrustworthy person. |
| Howye | 'How are you'. This is a clue that the person talking to you is from the North side of the Liffey. Hence 'a howye'. |
| Mucker/Muck Savage | A ruder version of a culchie. |
| Puther | A digital device, akin to a personal computer, but usually illegally obtained as in 'Would ye be interested in a 'puther?' |
| Roman | A Roman Catholic. |
| Shift | A snog/French kiss. For your own sake never ask anyone to give you 'a hand shifting your car' - you'll be evicted from the county. |
| Soft | Raining - 'It's a grand soft day' means it's raining again as usual. |
| West-brit | A Dublin resident (usually from Dún Laoghaire) who affects a posh, southern counties English accent. |
| Ye | Plural form of you. Except when it is singular. As in 'Are ye coming along?' (Plural) but 'How about ye?' (Singular). |
| Yer man | Third person masculine - as in 'How's yer man?'. |
| Yer wan | Third person feminine. |
| Yoke | A thingy or whatchamacallit. As in 'Pass us out that yoke there will yer?'. |
So now you know that if you hear someone say they we're 'Eating the face of the aul fellah to try and get a rise of him', don't panic - they were just arguing with their dad.
1'You're grand' means it's OK, not you're OK.
