Expressions you love

Nervous Wreck

I really like "... like there's no tomorrow."

Such a lovely phrase.

7 Seconds...

Paddy Cow wrote: »

Like a lawnmower :pac:

or Like a chainsaw

jprboy

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I'll be there!

There should be a Boards Naynagh-Show Beers

I'll try to spot the mod !

sligojoek wrote: »

I wasn't at that show since I was about 15. Is anyone going to that music festival the week after. I was half thinking of going down

This? Just noticed that it's STRICTLY OVER 18

http://www.nenagh.ie/events/details/lilys-happy-days-festival

Back on topic:

I'm going for the messages - really annoyed the American bro in law !

Toots

osarusan wrote: »

Shitehawk


A sad loss to the Irish vernacular.

That's one I use daily :pac:

My favourite is "If I'd a garden full of mickies I wouldn't let her look over the wall"

cbyrd

It's far from your ar5e you won't sit on it, my nana's reply to complaints of injury when we were kids.

That'll put a halt to your gallop.
(again my nana .. To everything from injury to pregnancy)

There's always an ar5e or an elbow on you.
(said to someone who complains a lot.. again my nana .. )

Neither a borrower nor lender be...

Fool me once, shame on you
Fool me twice, shame on me.

I've loads more, when I remember them

bottlebrush

Paddy Cow wrote: »

Like a lawnmower :pac:

Up the middle and down the sides

glynf

I doubt it, said Croker.

Westernyelp

I gave her a shot under the tail

Westernyelp

He was as drunk as forty cats

"You and whose army?" My favourite retort in secondary school when somebody would threaten to "hammer ten shades of shîte out of you". And it was always the midget fúckers - one with gelled spiky hair like Howard Jones and fast legs springs to mind! - who'd come out with the best retorts because they were so small they knew you couldn't really beat them into next week in good conscience

jca

One of my grandfather's ( a witty Dub) If brains were gunpowder he wouldn't have enough to blow his hat off.

Mr.Wemmick

That fella's so nosy, he'd look into yer mouth to see what yer eating.

Am spitting feathers.. (for a cup of tea or a drink)

Are you coming or going?

Let that tea draw.. - my mother never stopped shouting that at us when we were growing up

riffmongous

riffmongous wrote: »

Related to this one, e'er, no idea how to spell it, pronounced air anyway
"Have you air a dog?"
Anyone else no it and what it actually means?

E'er (air): Ne'er (nare) = Any : None

- Have you e'er a dog youssir? [Do you have any dog, my gentleman friend?]
- ne'er a dog youssir, declare unto God [Upon my oath, good sir, I have no dog]

jprboy

sligojoek wrote: »

Ger, do you remember a saying around Nebnagh years ago?

Heard, (pronounced Hurd) I will.

You might be thinking of something like the following which is an actual conversation I remember from Nenagh CBS in the early 80s:

Seamus: Johnny, I hear you like The Clash.
Johnny: Heard I didn't !! (i.e. I do like said band very much)

sligojoek

"Jaysus, the smoke would blind you." = Has anybody got a fag?

Autochange

When you catch someone trying to fool or get one over on you : I didnt come down on the bus from Cavan

sligojoek

jprboy wrote: »

You might be thinking of something like the following which is an actual conversation I remember from Nenagh CBS in the early 80s:

Seamus: Johnny, I hear you like The Clash.
Johnny: Heard I didn't !! (i.e. I do like said band very much)

yeah, It worked both ways.

Do you want a pint?
Heard I don't. (Of course I want a f*ckin pint)

CBS 80s I got out of there with my life in '81.

bubbles o hara

When I'm feeling sorry for myself, I still think of a quote my mother would use. " I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet"

sligojoek

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

E'er (air): Ne'er (nare) = Any : None

- Have you e'er a dog youssir? [Do you have any dog, my gentleman friend?]
- ne'er a dog youssir, declare unto God [Upon my oath, good sir, I have no dog]

Joe Duffy: A ne'er do well robbed me walleh.

One evening I was going into Nenagh for a few pints. I'd fallen off a motorbike the day before and was still wearing the torn jeans with the oilstains.

My father took a look at me and said, "Have you ne'er a better britches than that to put on you".

Another one of his was, "Turn down that scutterin' wireless. I can't hear me ears." That phrase was coined the night 2FM came on air for the first time.

Some of my many favourite expressions from the Irish:

There's no geeks nor meeks out of him (said by my mother-in-law a couple of hours ago about the sleeping little leanbh in the pram), sometimes just shortened to 'There's no geeks out of him' (straight from the Irish, 'Níl gíog ná míog as')

They were walking out with each other for many's the day (Bhídís ag siúl amach le chéile le fada an lá). Older people in Connacht would still describe a couple doing a line with each other/going steady/courting in English as 'walking out with each other'.

Love the "in it" structure. Is it yourself that's in it/There were two of them in it, etc. Again, straight from the Irish Tusa atá ann/Bhí beirt acu ann, etc.


The entire "on you/her/him" etc structure to convey:

1. visual features - e.g. He has a fine head of hair on him, 'Bhí cúl breá gruaige air', etc, but of course when describing somebody's hair we describe them as a 'Fear Rua' (literally Red man in English), Buachaill bán (literally 'white boy' in English), fear liath (literally grey man in English), etc because there is obviously no need to mention hair as it's understood that you cannot be a red man, grey man, etc and that bán in this context means 'fair-haired' as it would be pointless to describe somebody's skin as white when everybody has the same skin colour. (A black-skinned person in Irish is 'duine gorm', blue person - because 'Fear Dubh' was obviously booked long ago by the devil! - while a white-skinned person in Irish is 'duine geal', not 'duine bán' which would, as you now know, mean a fair-haired person!)

2. emotion. Lovely ways to describe somebody as being sad 'Bhí brón uirthi' (She was sad; literally 'There was sadness on her') or 'Bhí sí faoi bhrón' (She felt sad; literally 'She was under sadness'), Bhíodh áthas air (He used to be happy, literally 'There used to be happiness on him') Tháinig gruaim air (He became sad/gloomy; literally sadness/gloominess came on him) again conveys the weight of the emotion and the way emotions come on you.

So many more...

sligojoek

Did you hear John Ryan is "Great with" Mary Kelly?

snowflaker

Who lit the fuse on her tampon?

Mountainsandh

"who pissed in your cornflakes ?" Mr M has a wealth of great Irish expressions. I hear that one occasionally when my morning grumpiness is severe. I secretly like it but I can't let on, 'cos I'm grumpy.

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
or The lights are on, but there's nobody home.

Here in co Waterford I hear a lot of people using "with" for duration, as in : "he's been here with a week". Or something like that. I like it, I think I've been told it's local anyway, and it's so wrong yet I hear many people, even youngsters using it.

Mena Mitty

sligojoek wrote: »

Did you hear John Ryan is "Great with" Mary Kelly?

I heard they were 'stepping out' and doing a 'great line' they also say if she's looking for a 'trip up to the alter' she'll be waiting 'til the cows come home' as he's 'tipping' four times widow Teasie the tasty temptress, who as luck would have it entertains her gentlemen callers in the privacy of her parlour, so Mary Kelly will never find out. Rumour has it Mary Kelly is 'barking up the wrong tree' looking for husband material in John Ryan as the whole parish knows he been 'firing blanks' for years.

pickarooney

Mountainsandh wrote: »

"who pissed in your cornflakes ?" Mr M has a wealth of great Irish expressions. I hear that one occasionally when my morning grumpiness is severe. I secretly like it but I can't let on, 'cos I'm grumpy.

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
or The lights are on, but there's nobody home.

Here in co Waterford I hear a lot of people using "with" for duration, as in : "he's been here with a week". Or something like that. I like it, I think I've been told it's local anyway, and it's so wrong yet I hear many people, even youngsters using it.

That's directly from Irish where 'le bliana' is literally 'with years' and means 'for years'. I've only ever heard it from Munster people.

Are Am Eye

Padkir

"Well the curse of f**k down on ya". When someone/something does something against you or you're really pissed off at them.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Some of my many favourite expressions from the Irish:

There's no geeks nor meeks out of him (said by my mother-in-law a couple of hours ago about the sleeping little leanbh in the pram), sometimes just shortened to 'There's no geeks out of him' (straight from the Irish, 'Níl gíog ná míog as')

'Miog' is one I haven't heard in years!

My siblings and I were often told, growing up, that we weren't to let a miog/mig out of us, which seems to be a similar literal translation from the Irish, ná lig míog asaibh.

kyeev

If a neighbour was described as "looking very shook", said neighbour would be dead within the week.

A few other ones:
It was like herding cats.
As sure as I'm standing here.
God blast ya.
Oh Diabhal (Irish for devil).
Look at the cut of him.

Estrellita

I actually use quite a lot of these sayings. Two more...


"Gone like a fart in the wind"

"Betwixt and between it all"

fepper

'come on','ho,ho,ho,'come on',when farmers are moving cattle.

KERSPLAT!

Rough as a bear's arse

K.Flyer

Me gums are curlin' for a nice cup of tae!

Mena Mitty

'She has a face on her like a dog chawing wasps'

Widdershins

The wheel's still spinning but the hamster's dead.

Apparently this is a Cornish expression that means I am very well: ''I'm brave''

jca

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Some of my many favourite expressions from the Irish:

There's no geeks nor meeks out of him (said by my mother-in-law a couple of hours ago about the sleeping little leanbh in the pram), sometimes just shortened to 'There's no geeks out of him' (straight from the Irish, 'Níl gíog ná míog as')

They were walking out with each other for many's the day (Bhídís ag siúl amach le chéile le fada an lá). Older people in Connacht would still describe a couple doing a line with each other/going steady/courting in English as 'walking out with each other'.

Love the "in it" structure. Is it yourself that's in it/There were two of them in it, etc. Again, straight from the Irish Tusa atá ann/Bhí beirt acu ann, etc.


The entire "on you/her/him" etc structure to convey:

1. visual features - e.g. He has a fine head of hair on him, 'Bhí cúl breá gruaige air', etc, but of course when describing somebody's hair we describe them as a 'Fear Rua' (literally Red man in English), Buachaill bán (literally 'white boy' in English), fear liath (literally grey man in English), etc because there is obviously no need to mention hair as it's understood that you cannot be a red man, grey man, etc and that bán in this context means 'fair-haired' as it would be pointless to describe somebody's skin as white when everybody has the same skin colour. (A black-skinned person in Irish is 'duine gorm', blue person - because 'Fear Dubh' was obviously booked long ago by the devil! - while a white-skinned person in Irish is 'duine geal', not 'duine bán' which would, as you now know, mean a fair-haired person!)

2. emotion. Lovely ways to describe somebody as being sad 'Bhí brón uirthi' (She was sad; literally 'There was sadness on her') or 'Bhí sí faoi bhrón' (She felt sad; literally 'She was under sadness'), Bhíodh áthas air (He used to be happy, literally 'There used to be happiness on him') Tháinig gruaim air (He became sad/gloomy; literally sadness/gloominess came on him) again conveys the weight of the emotion and the way emotions come on you.

So many more...

Jesus I could smell the chalk and hear the duster flying towards me as I daydreamed about going home...

foxy farmer

Up she flew and the cock flattened her.

"Now" says she and she threw her wooden leg high up into the air.

Etc

For the vein among us

"If he was a bar of chocolate he'd eat himself"

...And Justice

"She'd eat cóck off a conveyor belt "

Biggest lickspittle on boardz

"Well heavens to Betsy!" is an underappreciated classic.

Westernyelp

...And Justice wrote:

"She'd eat cóck off a conveyor belt "

She could suck a golf ball through a garden hose

Thephantomsmask

Paddy Cow wrote: »

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
St Stephen's day was caught in the furze
Up with the kettle and down with the pan
Will you give me a penny to bury the wren?
If you haven't a penny a ha'penny will do
If you haven't a ha'penny, God bless you.

I chased the wren from rock to rock
I chased him into a public shop
I dipped his nose in a bottle of beer and
I wish you all a Happy New Year

Myself and my sister used to do "The Wren" years ago on St Stephens day and this was what we said. I don't think it's done anymore.

Still a big day out for the wren in Dingle.

super_furry

I will yeah. Meaning you absolutely will not.

alberto67

Not the brightest bulb on the tree.

waffleman

You're ridin the donkey too near the tail now.

If thats the worst that happens ye from now to you're 90 wont you be lucky.

Often in error never in doubt.

I dont care if it rains bullets you're goin.

You'll not rust.

It's a poor dog that's not worth the whistlin.

He hasn't the hands to bless himself.

I forgot more than ye ever learned youngfla.

I'll half ye in 3.

blueser

Mena Mitty wrote: »

'She has a face on her like a dog chawing wasps'

The more popular version has "bulldog" instead.

divillybit

The old fella living besides my homeplace once asked me was I 'swapping spit' or 'tupping' any young wan... we'd have these coversations! Had heard the latter phase but not the former.. thought it was a good one... Now I better head off out for a few beers.. never know, might get the shift or the 'tup' if I'm lucky! ��

sligojoek

blueser wrote: »

The more popular version has "bulldog" instead.

A face like a bulldog licking pi$$ off a nettle.

Lorelli!

A friend of mine use to always say "it was good skit" meaning good fun.

OOnegative

"It's a fret to man", a man I used to work with years ago used to use this expression all the time, not a clue what it really means but it has always stuck with me.