What are some things an American should know about the Irish Culture?

micropig

tuxy wrote: »

Natural gas is not oil.

That's not the only inaccuracy in that statement;)

micropig

Donnielighto wrote: »

nabbed, seriously though, lovely spot, roisin dubh and the quays (pub, not street) are big draws for americans

Salthill prom, Spanish Arch spin out to Connemara, Dun Aonghasa on the Arann Islands..Def OP plan to spend a good bit of time around Galway, be careful of the chancers charmers:D

WickedWest

Anyone been to the Cliffs of Moher or Glendalough? Those are places I'd really like to go.

micropig

WickedWest wrote: »

Anyone been to the Cliffs of Moher or Glendalough? Those are places I'd really like to go.

Definitely worth a visit. You have to pay to see the cliffs

WickedWest

micropig wrote: »

Definitely worth a visit. You have to pay to see the cliffs

You have to pay? To see cliffs? That's nutty. By the way, what's a chancer?

FTGFOP

WickedWest wrote: »

So in other words, Cork is full of gangs and I should steer clear unless I want someone to "bust a cap in my ass"?

Cork has a butter museum, I'll let you extrapolate from there about how violent it is.

tuxy

micropig wrote: »

Definitely worth a visit. You have to pay to see the cliffs

You pay for the car park or bus. I found a place to park my car at the side of the road when I was there a year ago.

dvpower

WickedWest wrote: »

You have to pay? To see cliffs? That's nutty. By the way, what's a chancer?

Someone who makes you pay to see cliffs.

Donnielighto

micropig wrote: »

Salthill prom, Spanish Arch spin out to Connemara, Dun Aonghasa on the Arann Islands..Def OP plan to spend a good bit of time around Galway, be careful of the chancers charmers:D

I'll have you know im in a committed relationship with a bottle of vino and a little green bag.

micropig

WickedWest wrote: »

You have to pay? To see cliffs? That's nutty. By the way, what's a chancer?

Yes, they only take them out when the weather is good:p

Chancer

to release gas while taking the chance of soiling your pants
After eating taco bell he let out a chancer that stunk up the whole resturant and stayed close to the bathroom just in case.

5. chancer 19 up, 47 down
a dude that attempts to fire an index finger up a girl's jacksie whilst enjoying carnal relations with her
"craig stewart is a ****in' chancer, he tried to prod my tea-towel holder when he was hanging out me last night.

G_R

Oh also, you'll fill your car with petrol or diesel. Not gas. And its measured in litres, not gallons, so if you think.your getting a bargain, your really not.

Distance is in metres and kilometres btw, none of your inches feet and miles!

Robdude

Grand_Rajnah wrote: »

Oh also, you'll fill your car with petrol or diesel. Not gas. And its measured in litres, not gallons, so if you think.your getting a bargain, your really not.

Distance is in metres and kilometres btw, none of your inches feet and miles!

I was surprised to see that TVs are still sold in inches here.

yesno1234

Another thing to know is the dog's bollix is a good thing.

This new phone is the dog's bollix.
Means this phone is extremely good.

ProudDUB

WickedWest wrote: »

You have to pay? To see cliffs? That's nutty. By the way, what's a chancer?

Yes, but there is a lovely interpretive center there, to explain to you what a cliff looks like & how you may not want to fall off the edge of it. Comes in very handy if you aren't too sure of how a cliff & the concept of gravity works !

A chancer is someone who chances his arm a lot. Risk taker, dodgy used car sales man type of character. To be avoided if at all possible.

Glendalough is lovely. All of Wicklow is. Doesn't get the props that the likes of West Cork, Kerry, Connemara do in the beauty stakes, which I think is very unfair.

Feathers

Dostoevsky wrote: »

If the great Yu Ming can do it, anybody with moderate intelligence can do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0a62wmd1A

Don't go for the whole language, you're right it's a lot of work. But if you want to impress the locals, give this poem a go. I've spelt it out phonetically for you:

On will kyad agum dull a-mock gu-dee on le-terris
Og-us modra ru-a
Iss maw lum kaw-ka mil-ish (Kaw-ka mil-ish)
Og-us sharon knee voal-awn
Taw gan-si urum
Taw skom-mal sa spare
Tour dumb on kaw-ka mil-ish! (Kaw-ka mil-ish)
Que-nus bohar coleen bawnya.

Can guarantee that anyone you get talking to will know it & be quite impressed!

WickedWest wrote:

Anyone been to the Cliffs of Moher or Glendalough? Those are places I'd really like to go.

Both lovely spots & well worth seeing. Check out the Giants Causeway too if you're up north at all!

Donnielighto

ProudDUB wrote: »

Glendalough is lovely. All of Wicklow is. Doesn't get the props that the likes of West Cork, Kerry, Connemara do in the beauty stakes, which I think is very unfair.

Even Brayjing?

FYI fair bit of casual racism around the place, nothing professional though. Irish people will take the piss out of pretty much everything, not much off limits.

micropig

Donnielighto wrote: »

Even Brayjing?

FYI fair bit of casual racism around the place, nothing professional though. Irish people will take the piss out of pretty much everything, not much off limits.

We're not racist we just like to give out about foreigners:pac::pac:

Donnielighto

if you know anyone irish dont assume we know them.

can happen though, my cousin was talkin to an american who was askin him if he knew some fella, cousin started to play along and a minute or 2 later realised he knew that lad and had been in school and rugby with him.

minidazzler

Well, if you are an American girl about to study in Cork, you will be hitting up the brog quite a lot. Most Americans seem to love it.

I can pretty much guarantee you will go there, and that at some point I will be talking to you or the group of friends you make :pac:

ProudDUB

Donnielighto wrote: »

Even Brayjing?

Yep. Nuttin' like the view from the top of Bray Head, or the cliff walk to Greystones on a nice summers evening.

Am not suggesting that the OP go for a stroll around the housing estates or spend a day shooting up with a local junkie.

brummytom

In America, plenty of people see the word 'cunt' as an absolutely disgusting word.

'Howaya, cunt?' is a pretty standard greeting in Ireland, and being called one means they like you (Most of the time...)

rusty_racer94

Heard an American woman talking to her OH when they were passing by the Euro2 shop, she goes, '' This is the Pound shop, everthing costs a Dollar here..''

true

Grand_Rajnah wrote: »

Distance is in metres and kilometres btw, none of your inches feet and miles!

rubbish. people are still feet high, cars still do miles per gallon. I'm going for a pint now - not a litre. None of that continental french sh**e here.

micropig

true wrote: »

rubbish. people are still feet high, cars still do miles per gallon. I'm going for a pint now - not a litre. None of that continental french sh**e here.

Most men over estimate how big an inch is:p

true

micropig wrote: »

Most men over estimate how big an inch is:p

thats where the phrase " I would'nt give her an inch" comes from.

do not laugh if you see one. Just say, ah shure twill be grand like. Dats right, de best goods come in the small packagin.

Feathers

Also, if you're in Cork you're bound to come across some Mahoneys or O'Mahoneys. If you want to stay on the right side of them, the name is pronounced

MAH-oney

not

ma-HONE-y

The middle syllabal is the one with the least stress (contrary to any US police comedies you may have seen).

mattjack

A very popular newer delicacy is swan , try it when you visit OP .

true

mattjack wrote: »

A very popular newer delicacy is swan , try it when you visit OP .

if you go in to a typical Irish restaurant, ask for swan, and do not take no for an answer. They keep it usually for locals, but if you keep asking and saying "Go on like" they will cook you some. Say you like it rare, that you granny was from Cork and they will know you're really local. Say you want a swan bag to take the carcass home to make in top sangwiches for tomorrow and you've got it made.;)

If you are in a rough area, bear in mind the chippers are doing seaguls and chips now, as fish stocks have declined. Make sure you tell them you do not want any feathers, they tickle your insides like. And you only like one thing tickling your insides like.

ViveLaVie

Cokeistan wrote: »

I'll give you some tips on college life as well as some Irish culture.

I presume it's UCC you'll be studying in? Firstly I would recommend you to get acquainted with either the Old Bar or New Bar on Campus . Old Bar has cheaper pints but the New Bar has heating .

I think the best piece of advice I could give you would be to not live on College Road as your house is likely to get robbed (not a certainty but a hell of a lot more likely than if you were living in a different area)

The Cork accent may be difficult to understand at first but I'm sure you'll grasp it!

I would recommend to not come across as stereotypical American, e.g. saying OMG and other phrases that are associated with American women. I'm not saying every American says these things but it seems to be a common enough view.

Lastly, in the likely event of you going out socializing at night with friends, I would recommend you to avoid Mangan's and Gorby's at all costs, these are extremely bad night clubs. Havana's and The Roxy aren't too bad, probably the best night clubs the city has to offer. Also, if its pubs you like: Crane Lane is a decent enough spot for live music, as is the old oak. There's some good pubs near College too called the Bailey and Bob Fox's. I wouldn't be a huge fan of the Brog but some people like it, maybe you should give it a try once and form your own impression on it.

Hope this helps in some way!

Seconded about acquainting yourself with both the New and the Old Bar!

College Rd. is seen as an easy target by some, but that said I know lads who lived there three years and only got robbed once and another girl not at all (if you don't count a party that got a bit out of hand and attracted randomers who nicked the kettle and toaster). That said, it's great craic living there, especially around Freshers' Week and Rag Week!

Ah you have to try Gorby's just the once - it's an experience you can't pass up! So is FreakScene! I'd add Cubins to your list of clubs to avoid tho!

Havana's will probably become routine, as will Rearden's. The Bowery is uite good too and I'm a fan of The Classic but not everyone is...caters to very specific taste.

The Brog is amazing altogether! Crane Lane and the Bailey are good too. There's quite a good nightlife in Cork in general tbh and UCC is a great college for having a good balance between going out and having the craic and having a good reputation academically. Believe me I have a better idea of how true this is now that I'm doing a Master's elsewhere...

Crime in Cork is relatively low by the way. Unless you go looking fr trouble you're not likely to find any..

What would you be studying over here?

WickedWest

micropig wrote: »

Yes, they only take them out when the weather is good:p

Chancer

to release gas while taking the chance of soiling your pants
After eating taco bell he let out a chancer that stunk up the whole resturant and stayed close to the bathroom just in case.

5. chancer 19 up, 47 down
a dude that attempts to fire an index finger up a girl's jacksie whilst enjoying carnal relations with her
"craig stewart is a ****in' chancer, he tried to prod my tea-towel holder when he was hanging out me last night.

What's a jacksie?