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Things said in Ireland that no one says in England

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,959 ✭✭✭gugleguy


    irish saying : me - feinism ( on my smartphone cannot add fada’s)
    in england: self interestness.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    gugleguy wrote: »
    irish saying : me - feinism ( on my smartphone cannot add fada’s)
    in england: self interestness.

    That translates as a word that sounds like banker but starts with W.

    Mé Fein ism comes from a political play on words Sinn Fein vs the Mé Fein party...


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Yeah, I think we don't notice that our language is peppered with religiosity but then again English people do similar when they say things like "Ahwww, Bless!" "God bless" (instead of bye) and Cor blyme me literally means "May god blind me

    Agree. We're so used to it now we don't notice. Its more obvious in the Irish language. E.g Dia duit. Dia is Muire dhuit.
    Never knew that about cor blyme. Pretty interesting.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    Does anybody here, living in England, live in the North East, say around Newcastle?

    Or Cumbria?

    Or deepest Norfolk or Suffolk?

    THAT's where the strongest regional accents and differential usage of English occurs. The famous boradcaster and writer, Melvin Bragg, was brought up in Cumbria, and had to learn to speak 'standard English' at quite a late age, sixteen, he notes in the book, 'The Adventure of English' - here is an example...

    'Deke's you gadji ower yonder wid't dukal an't baary mort gaan t'beck'.

    Translation - 'Look at that man over here with the dog and the sexy girl going down to the river'.

    Of course, Irish also has its regional differences, but at least they are more or less mutually intelligible.

    tac


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    tac foley wrote: »
    Does anybody here, living in England, live in the North East, say around Newcastle?

    Or Cumbria?

    Or deepest Norfolk or Suffolk?

    THAT's where the strongest regional accents and differential usage of English occurs. The famous boradcaster and writer, Melvin Bragg, was brought up in Cumbria, and had to learn to speak 'standard English' at quite a late age, sixteen, he notes in the book, 'The Adventure of English' - here is an example...

    'Deke's you gadji ower yonder wid't dukal an't baary mort gaan t'beck'.

    Translation - 'Look at that man over here with the dog and the sexy girl going down to the river'.

    Of course, Irish also has its regional differences, but at least they are more or less mutually intelligible.

    tac

    Try putting someone from deepest Kerry on the phone with someone from a remote part of East Donegal and you'll see how compatible they are.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Agree. We're so used to it now we don't notice. Its more obvious in the Irish language. E.g Dia duit. Dia is Muire dhuit.
    Never knew that about cor blyme. Pretty interesting.

    You also notice ones that you're less used to hearing and don't notice your own ones.

    I know an American who thought the English were incredibly religious because every time she sneezes someone said oh! Bless You!

    Where as in general Americans can be much, much more likely to be incredibly religious compared to Irish or British types who might use the odd phrase like that due to lingusitic tradition.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    tac foley wrote: »
    Does anybody here, living in England, live in the North East, say around Newcastle?

    Or Cumbria?

    Or deepest Norfolk or Suffolk?

    THAT's where the strongest regional accents and differential usage of English occurs. The famous boradcaster and writer, Melvin Bragg, was brought up in Cumbria, and had to learn to speak 'standard English' at quite a late age, sixteen, he notes in the book, 'The Adventure of English' - here is an example...

    'Deke's you gadji ower yonder wid't dukal an't baary mort gaan t'beck'.

    Translation - 'Look at that man over here with the dog and the sexy girl going down to the river'.

    Of course, Irish also has its regional differences, but at least they are more or less mutually intelligible.

    tac

    I'm a kiwi, but lived up by Newcastle for a few years, and was with a girl from Cumbria. It's a whole different language up there. People often didn't have a clue what I was saying, but it was mutual. I remember catching a taxi the first time I went to Sunderland, and I literally had no clue what he was saying to me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    Agree. We're so used to it now we don't notice. Its more obvious in the Irish language. E.g Dia duit. Dia is Muire dhuit.
    Never knew that about cor blyme. Pretty interesting.

    Standardised spelling is 'Cor blimey'.

    tac


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 216 ✭✭AnLonDubh


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Older Irish people can tend to come out with really odd ones though. Like I've old 80+ year olds relatives wwho aren't religious really at all but to express shock : 'oh! Jesus, Mary & Joseph!"
    My friends and I would still say this now, we're all under thirty. Interesting how things date differently in different areas.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Basil3 wrote: »
    I'm a kiwi, but lived up by Newcastle for a few years, and was with a girl from Cumbria. It's a whole different language up there. People often didn't have a clue what I was saying, but it was mutual. I remember catching a taxi the first time I went to Sunderland, and I literally had no clue what he was saying to me.

    Newcastle is a full dialect in reality. Many of the words aren't even the same. It's a lot more than an accent thing. It's the same with Glasgow etc

    Actually the Kiwi accent poses a lot of problems if you're not used to it. While it's usually quite clear it radically changes the length of vowels. That can make it sound totally unrecognisable as English especially to 2nd language speakers and Americans who are completely unaware of it.

    Your brain takes a while to readjust to the changes in phonetics.

    Some South African accents do a similar thing to the vowels.

    Australia actually slightly lengthens them even though other aspects of the accent aren't dissimilar to NZ.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 254 ✭✭dom40


    when english people i know visit me they always say when they need to use the toilet"can i borrow your toilet please?" I always ask them to bring it back when they are finished with it,they dont half give me some funny looks ..


  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I have a Polish mate who cannot pronounce my name the way I do.. Nor do I expect him to.

    So why would we expect the British to pronounce words (O'Doherty) the way we do?
    Bit of a difference in new names that arrived recently and should be written with characters unfamiliar to us and the names which have been in England for decades if not centuries.


    The in Ireland we have accents, in England they pretty much have dialect IMO. Kinda sad to think how much could be lost in the next while.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    dom40 wrote: »
    when english people i know visit me they always say when they need to use the toilet"can i borrow your toilet please?" I always ask them to bring it back when they are finished with it,they dont half give me some funny looks ..

    Try saying that to Americans. The toilet is unmentionable, let alone using it!

    You politely enquire about the location of the bathroom as if you're just interested in the architecture of their home.

    I remember in France we were in an old lady's house and a US friend of mine asked in direct translated French asked if she could use the bathroom.

    She said OK... Do you want a towel? I have some nice new shower gel on the shelf!

    Then turned to me and said : the Americans are obcessed with showering!

    The toilet and bathroom in French houses are often different rooms.

    She then got into an "ohh you need to go for a pee!" Well, the toilet is in the toilet not the bathroom! If you're going for a ... make sure you open the window :)

    Then she made a bad joke about how the top loader washing machine (also in the bathroom) isn't a toilet.

    The american was now bright red!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,709 ✭✭✭c68zapdsm5i1ru


    In Ireland: Skanger or Knacker;
    In England: Chav


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,121 ✭✭✭ghogie91


    Chatting my English cousin on holidays

    Me: "Well whats the craic?"
    Cousin "Well what? Craic?"


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,406 ✭✭✭ike


    Ireland: "Be da fcuk"

    England: "I say"


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,959 ✭✭✭gugleguy


    In Ireland: 'milking the bejaysus out of'

    In England: 'squeezing every last drop out of'


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    ghogie91 wrote: »
    Chatting my English cousin on holidays

    Me: "Well whats the craic?"
    Cousin "Well what? Craic?"

    Interestingly crack / craic meaning fun originates in Northern English dialects not Gaelige.

    Comes from "kraken" meaning a loud explosion (of sound). Very Germanic origin. It just got popularised in modern hiberno-English

    Press for cupboard is a Gaelic origin "preas".
    It appears in dialects of French influenced by Breton too. Also got some degree of use in Northern England dialects.

    Also pan for a loaf bread is pure French / Latin.
    It's just those unsophisticated English puritan types who don't appreciate it.

    Most likely route into Irish English is through French as the Normans influenced terminology for food - beef, pork, mutton etc


  • Registered Users Posts: 24 JohnInDublin59


    I have a Polish mate who cannot pronounce my name the way I do.. Nor do I expect him to.

    So why would we expect the British to pronounce words (O'Doherty) the way we do?

    It is not that they CANNOT pronounce O'Doherty in the way we do. It is that they do not take the time to find out how it should be pronounced.

    As a general rule it is good manners to pronounce someone’s name the way they pronounce it. If David O’Doherty doesn’t pronounce his name O'Docherty, neither should they. Any more than they should have called Haughey Hockey.

    My theory is that it’s not any kind of anti-Irishness. It’s more that if it was some African leader’s name, the BBC would never assume it was pronounced as spelled. But since we speak the same language as them, they assume we have the same pronunciation.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,672 ✭✭✭An Riabhach


    I have a Polish mate who cannot pronounce my name the way I do.. Nor do I expect him to.

    So why would we expect the British to pronounce words (O'Doherty) the way we do?

    Why don't you just teach him how to say it?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    It is not that they CANNOT pronounce O'Doherty in the way we do. It is that they do not take the time to find out how it should be pronounced.

    As a general rule it is good manners to pronounce someone’s name the way they pronounce it. If David O’Doherty doesn’t pronounce his name O'Docherty, neither should they. Any more than they should have called Haughey Hockey.

    My theory is that it’s not any kind of anti-Irishness. It’s more that if it was some African leader’s name, the BBC would never assume it was pronounced as spelled. But since we speak the same language as them, they assume we have the same pronunciation.

    Not a good idea as many English names aren't pronounced as you might think either.
    They get very sniffy when people pronounce Worcestershire as written or the L in Holborne

    Featherstone is also pronounced as Fanshaw!

    Deirdre is the oddest one as there no way you'd read that as Deir drey unless it was spelled Deirdree or deirdery.

    Bordeaux isn't pronounced Bord E Ox ... Yet they manage that OK.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,852 ✭✭✭Steve F


    Meangadh wrote: »
    Kerry bet Donegal yesterday. Not beat. Bet.

    Hate when people say that.I always feel like saying "No "Bet" is something you do in a betting shop" :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Seasan wrote: »
    Why don't you just teach him how to say it?

    I find the best approach is :

    "One pronounces it thus : Drogheda!"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,901 ✭✭✭✭Realt Dearg Sec


    Steve F wrote: »
    Hate when people say that.I always feel like saying "No "Bet" is something you do in a betting shop" :)

    A betting shop?! Presume you mean a bookie.


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,484 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    tac foley wrote: »
    Does anybody here, living in England, live in the North East, say around Newcastle?

    Or Cumbria?

    Or deepest Norfolk or Suffolk?

    THAT's where the strongest regional accents and differential usage of English occurs. The famous boradcaster and writer, Melvin Bragg, was brought up in Cumbria, and had to learn to speak 'standard English' at quite a late age, sixteen, he notes in the book, 'The Adventure of English' - here is an example...

    'Deke's you gadji ower yonder wid't dukal an't baary mort gaan t'beck'.

    Translation - 'Look at that man over here with the dog and the sexy girl going down to the river'.

    Of course, Irish also has its regional differences, but at least they are more or less mutually intelligible.

    tac

    There's at least some Romany mixed in there.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    Also the English for some reason can't say the name Cathal correctly - pretty amusing. Comes out sounding like Karl

    This is the same reason why Gallagher is pronounced with a hard 'g' and Doherty is pronounced with a 'k'. English doesn't normally have the two vowel sounds together.

    I once stopped a colleague in his tracks with a phrase. He announced he was going out to the shop to get lunch and I said "grand so". He stopped and turned and said "What?" with the most puzzled expression.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Not a good idea as many English names aren't pronounced as you might think either.
    They get very sniffy when people pronounce Worcestershire as written or the L in Holborne

    Featherstone is also pronounced as Fanshaw!

    Deirdre is the oddest one as there no way you'd read that as Deir drey unless it was spelled Deirdree or deirdery.

    Bordeaux isn't pronounced Bord E Ox ... Yet they manage that OK.

    French is taught in schools in mainland UK and NI - Irish is not taught at all except in certain schools in NI.

    Ask anybody in the street to pronounce Dún Laoghaire or any other Irish word/s for proof.

    tac


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    There's at least some Romany mixed in there.

    Yup - 'gadji' is pure Romany.

    And much of Cumbrian and NE dialect is old Norse. Much of the former Danelaw areas of mainland UK are Norse-derived. It would be way OT to detail it all. Even Ireland has two counties whose names are derived directly from their Viking names.

    tac, whose name in Irish is only vaguely similar to its present-day pronunciation.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    It is not that they CANNOT pronounce O'Doherty in the way we do. It is that they do not take the time to find out how it should be pronounced.

    As a general rule it is good manners to pronounce someone’s name the way they pronounce it. If David O’Doherty doesn’t pronounce his name O'Docherty, neither should they. Any more than they should have called Haughey Hockey.

    My theory is that it’s not any kind of anti-Irishness. It’s more that if it was some African leader’s name, the BBC would never assume it was pronounced as spelled. But since we speak the same language as them, they assume we have the same pronunciation.


    Nor are the Irish the only ones who suffer from the indignity of having their names incorrectly pronounced. Many years ago, the newsreader, Trevor MacDonald, chickened out when reading a report of a helicopter or small airplane crash in Mid-Wales, near Llanfihaengl-ym-Mochnant. His report of the crash having taken place 'near a small village in Mid-Wales' left my Welsh wife cackling...

    tac


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    tac foley wrote: »
    Nor are the Irish the only ones who suffer from the indignity of having their names incorrectly pronounced. Many years ago, the newsreader, Trevor MacDonald, chickened out when reading a report of a helicopter or small airplane crash in Mid-Wales, near Llanfihaengl-ym-Mochnant. His report of the crash having taken place 'near a small village in Mid-Wales' left my Welsh wife cackling...

    tac

    "The Icelandic Volcano" ....Eyjafjallajökull ... Not remotely like how it reads in English.


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