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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 28, 2022 10:29:44 GMT
Along with the customs and traditions thread, I think it would be a good thing to have a list of Irish idioms and turns of phrase. There are so many that we use but never notice.
For instance, "THE Christmas" instead of Christmas.
It came into my head when I was thinking of the phrase "between the jigs and the reels."
Séamus and kj might have collected a few of these, being expatriates.
I think "giving out" for complaining and "bold" for naughty might be the most common Irish idioms.
Do people still say "messages" for shopping? It was once routine but I never hearing it now, sadly.
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Post by Séamus on Jan 29, 2022 9:16:40 GMT
Along with the customs and traditions thread, I think it would be a good thing to have a list of Irish idioms and turns of phrase. There are so many that we use but never notice. For instance, "THE Christmas" instead of Christmas. It came into my head when I was thinking of the phrase "between the jigs and the reels." Séamus and kj might have collected a few of these, being expatriates. I think "giving out" for complaining and "bold" for naughty might be the most common Irish idioms. Do people still say "messages" for shopping? It was once routine but I never hearing it now, sadly. ....also because my parents are from a particular generation,they probably use some terms that went out of common use years ago- my mother's habit of calling an unfamiliar woman Mrs Who-Ha or saying someone 'has their glue' when they expect too much of someone/thing. Some like 'boxing the fox'(orchard theft) or 'changed his shirt'(becoming protestant for employment opportunity) were archaic,but not entirely unknown, even in their day. I've been asked about 'the messages' by a Scotchman recently,so it is used by them also. My mother recalls a time when children,often of questionable literacy in that era, would be sent to the shop with the list on a scrap of paper- so it really was a message. 'Exercises' for 'homework', 'salad' for 'lettuce', 'pan' for 'loaf of bread', 'spiv' for a feminine man, 'press' instead of 'cupboard' all come to mind. The last mentioned I had been unconscious of until somebody desperately looking for cloths to mop up was getting frustrated trying to understand me (although I've been told since that some first generation Australians from Irish and Scottish backgrounds will indeed take a blanket from the press.) I don't think Australians would appreciate or understand my mother exclaiming "don't tell me THAT faggot WON!?" when the nightly news does a bit of coverage on the annual Oscars or Grammys ceremony or "where did they get that eejit from?!" during an ad for a reality tv show or "he always wanted that oul one" when mention is made of the Prince of Wales' tragic first marriage.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jan 29, 2022 13:14:14 GMT
My father used "boxing the fox", but not without explanation. It's a bizarre term.
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Post by Séamus on Jan 31, 2022 23:54:36 GMT
My father used "boxing the fox", but not without explanation. It's a bizarre term. Come-all-yas (-ye) is one they often use, not in the strict definition (if 'strict definition of an idiom' isn't a contradiction in itself.)
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 1, 2022 9:39:55 GMT
My father used "boxing the fox", but not without explanation. It's a bizarre term. Come-all-yas (-ye) is one they often use, not in the strict definition (if 'strict definition of an idiom' isn't a contradiction in itself.) Do you mean the song, or the phrase itself?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 1, 2022 9:40:23 GMT
The idioms I find most interesting are the ones that tend to pass unnoticed under the radar, like "the Christmas".
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Post by Séamus on Feb 2, 2022 0:29:43 GMT
Come-all-yas (-ye) is one they often use, not in the strict definition (if 'strict definition of an idiom' isn't a contradiction in itself.) Do you mean the song, or the phrase itself? Just meaning that,for my parents,it means a song that's old-manish, whereas it's supposed to designate a diaspora ballad- I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen etc. My mother's definition of come-all-ye would be "that's what the oul fellas used to sing when they had one too many". She would define Dan O'Hara as come-all-ye,even though it's absolutely not written about immigrant life. She probably wouldn't define Galway Bay as one, despite having the "longing for Ireland" theme. Presentation of the song can make a difference to perception also.
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Post by Séamus on Feb 11, 2022 8:19:36 GMT
Lookit. I first learnt that there was a spelling to it when a journalist quoted Charlie McGreevy when he made a point about everyone in Ireland still eating three meals a day, some time after some of the air came out of the tax haven economy.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 11, 2022 9:36:04 GMT
Lookit. I first learnt that there was a spelling to it when a journalist quoted Charlie McGreevy when he made a point about everyone in Ireland still eating three meals a day, some time after some of the air came out of the tax haven economy. Good one! My father thought "look" had become a common way to start a sentence in GAA in recent years. And in Dublin there's "come here till I tell you", even if you're talking to someone thousands of miles away on the telephone.
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Post by cato on Feb 11, 2022 13:45:52 GMT
The Dublin greeting "What's the story?" produces blank stares from the country folk I find.
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Post by Séamus on Feb 13, 2022 11:21:21 GMT
Dubliners at least would often say 'go awaaaay' or 'ahhhh stop' in conversation. Despite GO and STOP being opposites they mean very much the same here. Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds' uncle addressed the story's narrator as Mr-My-Man which I have vague memory of still existing as a condescending address to younger boys. My parents often called a gateaux or other rich cake a "kill me quick". Now in their 80s it's obviously all too real to continue the expression.
I've only ever once heard an Italian actually say mamma mia; perhaps mention should be made of Irish 'mamma mias'- did anyone ever say "to be sure" or "be gosh" or "be gorrah"? Perhaps in the more country areas?
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Post by Stephen on Feb 14, 2022 16:26:17 GMT
Dubliners at least would often say 'go awaaaay' or 'ahhhh stop' in conversation. Despite GO and STOP being opposites they mean very much the same here. Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds' uncle addressed the story's narrator as Mr-My-Man which I have vague memory of still existing as a condescending address to younger boys. My parents often called a gateaux or other rich cake a "kill me quick". Now in their 80s it's obviously all too real to continue the expression. I've only ever once heard an Italian actually say mamma mia; perhaps mention should be made of Irish 'mamma mias'- did anyone ever say "to be sure" or "be gosh" or "be gorrah"? Perhaps in the more country areas? Do Dubliners even count as being Irish
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 14, 2022 17:05:27 GMT
Dubliners at least would often say 'go awaaaay' or 'ahhhh stop' in conversation. Despite GO and STOP being opposites they mean very much the same here. Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds' uncle addressed the story's narrator as Mr-My-Man which I have vague memory of still existing as a condescending address to younger boys. My parents often called a gateaux or other rich cake a "kill me quick". Now in their 80s it's obviously all too real to continue the expression. I've only ever once heard an Italian actually say mamma mia; perhaps mention should be made of Irish 'mamma mias'- did anyone ever say "to be sure" or "be gosh" or "be gorrah"? Perhaps in the more country areas? Do Dubliners even count as being Irish A question I've often asked myself!
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Post by cato on Feb 14, 2022 18:00:53 GMT
Dubliners at least would often say 'go awaaaay' or 'ahhhh stop' in conversation. Despite GO and STOP being opposites they mean very much the same here. Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds' uncle addressed the story's narrator as Mr-My-Man which I have vague memory of still existing as a condescending address to younger boys. My parents often called a gateaux or other rich cake a "kill me quick". Now in their 80s it's obviously all too real to continue the expression. I've only ever once heard an Italian actually say mamma mia; perhaps mention should be made of Irish 'mamma mias'- did anyone ever say "to be sure" or "be gosh" or "be gorrah"? Perhaps in the more country areas? My mother who was a true country woman labelled a neighbour "be gosh" as it was the only time she had ever heard the term being used in everyday life. It was quaint even in the 1970s.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Feb 14, 2022 21:22:17 GMT
Dubliners at least would often say 'go awaaaay' or 'ahhhh stop' in conversation. Despite GO and STOP being opposites they mean very much the same here. Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds' uncle addressed the story's narrator as Mr-My-Man which I have vague memory of still existing as a condescending address to younger boys. My parents often called a gateaux or other rich cake a "kill me quick". Now in their 80s it's obviously all too real to continue the expression. I've only ever once heard an Italian actually say mamma mia; perhaps mention should be made of Irish 'mamma mias'- did anyone ever say "to be sure" or "be gosh" or "be gorrah"? Perhaps in the more country areas? My mother who was a true country woman labelled a neighbour "be gosh" as it was the only time she had ever heard the term being used in everyday life. It was quaint even in the 1970s. I've never heard "be gosh" or "be gorrah", but I've heard "to be sure" innumerable times. Not always ironically. I've taken to using "Top of the morning to you" as my morning greeting.
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