Irish Slang for People

adjective · Colloquial · BOHLD

Naughty, badly behaved. Said of children constantly and of adults teasingly; it does not mean brave or daring in Irish usage.

noun, interjection · Regional · BOY, often written 'bai' or 'buoy'

A tag attached to the end of an utterance in Cork and much of Munster, addressed to any male of any age. It marks familiarity and carries no sense of youth.

noun · Colloquial · CHAN-ser

Someone who tries it on — charges too much, promises what he can't deliver, pushes into a queue. Condemnation mixed with a certain grudging amusement.

noun · Informal · KULL-chee

Someone from rural Ireland, as seen from a city. Between friends it is teasing and often self-applied; from a stranger in Dublin it is a sneer.

Use with care

noun · Colloquial · cute HOOR — 'hoor' rhymes with 'poor'

A sly operator who works the system and stays just inside the rules — classically a local politician, publican or developer. 'Cute' here means cunning, not adorable.

Use with care

noun · Dated · MOT, rhymes with 'not'

A girlfriend, in older Dublin speech: 'the mot', 'me mot'. Now largely the property of men over fifty and of anyone quoting them.

noun · Colloquial · NO-shunz

Pretensions above your station — ordering the wine, mentioning your holiday, using a word nobody asked for. Accusing someone of notions is Ireland's standard weapon against self-promotion.

adjective, interjection · Informal · SOWND

Of a person: decent, reliable, generous with no fuss. The highest ordinary compliment one Irish person pays another.

+1 more sense

noun · Informal · WAG-on

A woman judged to be spiteful or difficult. Aimed at women only, and although it is often said lightly it is an insult about a woman's character with no male equivalent.

Use with care

noun, phrase · Colloquial · yer MAN

That man; the man we both know about but are not naming. The female form is 'yer wan'.

+1 more sense