1. Go on
Go on is a fierce handy one. It can be used to egg someone on when they are telling you a good story, to encourage someone to do something (as in have a cup of tea in the case of the classic Mrs Doyle “Ah go on, go on, go on…”) or as an exclamation, as in:
A: Did you hear himself is after cleaning up at the races?
B: Ah go on!
2. Whist!
Whist means stop talking, stop what you are doing, be still, or shut up. Often shouted by teachers at their students “will you ever whist! Whist a minute etc…"
NB: country folk pronounce whist with a secret second 'h'…making it Whisht!
3. C’mere
C’mere is practically used as verbal punctuation by the Irish. It’s a nice little preface that can be dotted into conversation and means bog all other than listen (see below). However, I particularly like when 'C’mere' used in isolation, as the spoken equivalent of a raised eyebrow. On it's own, C'mere should be accompanied by a wry facial expression, i.e:
A: Did ya see what yer wan is up to?
B: Ah c’mere
4. Listen
Irish mammies definitely get their money’s worth out of ‘Listen’.
Par example: “Ah Marie would you listen to me, he has my heart broken…”
5. Dya’know (pronounced j’know)
'Do you know what I mean?' is a flipping mouthful so why not roll all the words together into one indistinguishable garble of Dya’know? Or go the whole hog with 'Dya’know yerself' or push the boat out with 'D'ya know yerself like...'
6. Like
Which brings us neatly to ‘like’. Where I come from in Cork 'like' will frequently top, tail and be repeated several times in one single utterance. In Cork, “Like, I’m only like saying like” is a perfectly understandable and acceptable sentence in the English language. Like.
7. Hah & Wha?
'Excuse me' is too formal, 'Pardon me' makes you sound like a Victorian chimney sweep and 'I beg your pardon' went out with the flood – so why not opt for the more informal ‘hah?’ or 'wha?' Hah can be used not just if you can’t hear someone and need them to repeat themselves but also if they said something queer. For instance: ‘I’m not going for a pint later’ would definitely warrant a ‘hah?’
Hah can be used not just if you can’t hear someone and need them to repeat themselves, but also if they say something suspicious or queer. For instance: ‘I’m not going for a pint later’ would definitely warrant a ‘hah?’
8. ‘Era
A great way to start a sentence. I have no clue at all where ‘Era comes from but that doesn’t stop Irish people liberally peppering almost every conversation with a few Eras. I'd like to illuminate you further as to it's meaning but era, I can't be bothered.
9. Stop!
Stop is another contrary term as it really means go on or continue. So if you are half way through a bit of sca (scandal) and someone says stop, they mean keep going. Stop the lights is also a favourite.
10. Go ‘way
Similarly, we don’t actually want to you to go and get lost when we say go away. It’s more like get outta here, I don’t believe you, shut the front door etc. I always like the 'Go ‘way o that’ variation (abbreviated from 'go away out of that').
11. I will ya
This one’s saucy. Your mum tells you to go outside and start washing the car and you brattishly reply “I will ya”…meaning the very opposite. Use with caution, she still has the wooden spoon.
