Ireland

Irish Slang for Emotion & Reaction

5 Irish slang terms for emotion & reaction, each with its meaning, how it is pronounced and an example of it in use.

Surprise, exasperation, delight, disbelief. Often interjections rather than nouns — words that do something rather than name something.

begorrah

interjection · Dated · buh-GOR-ah

By God — a nineteenth-century euphemistic oath that no living Irish person says sincerely. Listed because visitors arrive expecting it, usually attached to 'top o' the mornin'', which is equally unused.

cat

adjective · Colloquial · KAT

Awful, dreadful. Applies to weather, performances, food and moods, and has nothing to do with cats.

feck

verb, interjection · Vulgar · FEK

A milder stand-in for the stronger f-word, used in the same grammar: feck off, fecking, for feck's sake.

+1 more sense

Use with care

gas

adjective, noun · Informal · GASS

Funny, entertaining. Of a person it means they are good company and make you laugh; of a situation it means it was absurd.

+1 more sense

scarlet

adjective · Informal · SKAR-let

Mortified with embarrassment. Used of yourself, and — this is the Irish part — of someone else on their behalf: 'I'm scarlet for ya'.