Phrase Meaning

A little fart of a fella Small person

A shave, a shampoo and a shite and I'm a new man I need to freshen up to be ready

A soft day Miserable fucking weather

Are y e headin'? Are you leaving now?

Are ye lookin for a claim? Do you want a fight?

Are you lookin at me or waitin on a bus Do you want a fight?

As fat as a bishop A fat person

As fit as a cello (an improvement on the fiddle) Healthy, OK, well

As ignorant as a bag of arses Un-cultured person

As sure as there's a hole in your arse Confirming the truth behind your story

Ask me arse / bollix Dont ask me that / You'll be waiting a long time for an answer

As scarce as hobby-horse manure Quite scarce

As sick as a small hospital Very ill

As small as a mouse's diddy (breast) Small

As thick as horse-shite in a bottle Very stupid

As useless as a chocolate teapot Useless

Ask yer auld one U niversal comeback phrase, can be used as a response to nearly any insult, and is generally accepted as the winning statement.

Away in the head Mad

Be-dah hokey A pretend expression of surprise or can mean that the person hasn't a clue what you are talking about.

Be Jaysus An expression of sheer surprise.

Big long drink of water! Boring person

Bite the back of me bollix Stop bothering me

Boxin' the fox Robbing an orchard

Cheese on your chin Your fly is open!

Dead fuckin' brill Wonderful (from Nauset3TT@att.net)

Do you want your eye dyed? Do you want a fight?

Do you want your snot broke? Do you want a fight?

Do you want your teeth in a bag? Do you want a fight?

Don't be actin' the maggot! Stop doing that!, Don't make trouble

Eat the head off Attack verbally

Fair play to you Indicates approval of someone's actions or opinions

Fairly lively With great haste "Run up to the bar and get me a pint fairly lively"

Fit to be tied Mad, angry.

Gerup (get up) the yard: Exclamation of disbelief

Get on like a house on fire To get on real well with someone

Get outta that garden!! Exclamation of disbelief

Give him a toe in the hole Kick in the arse

Go away outta tha' Dismissive response indicating disbelief (I don't believe you) or distain

Go on out of that (pron. "gwan outta dat") Dismissive response indicating disbelief (I don't believe you) or distain

Goin' around like a constipated greyhound. Down in the dumps, glum

Go home and tell your mother / father to get married. An insult

Grand altogether Same boring state of affairs

Havn't got a baldy I've no chance

Havn't got a snowball's chance in hell I've no chance

He arsed his way through the crowd He pushed his way through the crowd

He was as black as a mourning coach Badly bruised

He/She hadn't a flitter on him/her No clothes

He has a face like the Earl of Hell's arse Ugly person

He/She has an eye like a stinkin' eel He/She watches everything

He / she ran like a hairyman Run fast

He / she thinks he's the cat's pyjamas Conceited person

He / she was fit to be tied Angry, upset

He / she wouldn't give you the steam off his/ her piss Mean person

He'd lick it off a scabby leg He's fond of drink

He'd drink it out of a hooer's boot. He's fond of drink

He / She'd live in your ear and grow potatoes in the other He / She'd take advantage of you

He'd live in your ear and sublet your ear-drum Mean person

He'd shite in your parlour and charge you for it Mean person

He's a bit of a molly He's an effeminate person

He's gone for his tea Someone killed or after dying

He's like the barber's cat, full of wind and piss. Someone all talk and no action

He's very handy with his feet. He's a good dancer

He was movin like the clappers. Moving very fast

I knew him when he hadn't an arse to his trousers. I knew him when he was poor

He / She has a face like the back of a bus Ugly person

He / She is very old, but she has all her facilities An old person of sound mind

He / She'd eat you out of house and home Someone with a big appetite

He / She's like a bag of cats He / She's in very bad humour

Head the ball. Used to call or point out a person. "hey head the ball come over here" or "There's head the ball over there"

How's the form? How are you?

How's the talent? Is there anyone good looking/ interesting about?

How's she cuttin'? How are things? How are you? Catchphrase stemming from a distant time when Dubs knew about agricultural machinery

How's your hoop ? How u doin ?

Fuck the bastards. To hell with them!

Fuckin' right. O.K.!

Fuk dat An expression of mild displeasure

Get into som 'wan Try to get with someone of the opposite sex

Get outta that garden!! : Exclamation of disbelief

Go an' ask the butt end o' me bollix! An impolite refusal

Go home and tell your mother to get married A derogatory comment on the status the recipient of this comment

Going for a McShit: Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the bog. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is a McShit With Lies.

Gone for his/her tea Usually used to indicated if someone is in trouble or about to be hurt or killed

Gwan outta dat (Go on out of that) I don't believe you (from toini@webfactory.ie)

Ile give ya me gaff numba buh if ya buzz me Im gonna buwrst ya! I will provide you with my home telephone number but if you use it, I will beat you up. (from ruaidhrimack@hotmail.com)

Janey Mack (Mac) Used to express surprise, "Janey mack I didn't know that". Could be a polite way of saying "Jesus Christ"

Jaysus, I'm grand. I am fine.

Jaysus, looks like he had a fire on his face that someone put out with a pair of golf shoes He's got really bad acne

(from kol26@talk21.com)

Knacker drinking Drinking alcohol in a field

I'm feckin knackered I'm really exhausted

I could eat a baby's arse thru the bars of a cot I'm very hungry

If you went any slower you'd catch up with yourself on the way back A complaint about someone who is slow

I knew him when he hadn't a pot to piss in I knew him before he had anything (wealth)

I'll give you a leather medal! That was a really stupid thing to say or do. That was a totally useless suggestion. You did your best but it was still hopeless!

I'm only here on a flying visit I've come for a brief visit

I nearly had a canary I had a fright

I will in me hat No, I won't

I will in me arse I won't do it

I wouldn't bother me arse about that That's not worth considering

If bull-shit was music, that fellow'd be a brass band. A good story teller, usually about oneself

If he had half a brain he would be a COMPLETE idiot An idiot - complete is used in the sense of emphasis.

If the wind blows you'll be left that way Said to someone with a strange expression on their face

If you want to get along in Dublin, you've got to wet a few throats Buy the odd drink to get the work done

It gave me the hump I found it boring

It was the rale (real) Ally Daly It was the genuine article

It was like throwin' apples into an orchard It was a stupid thing to do

I've a mouth on me I'm hungry

I've a throat on me I'm thirsty

Knock someone up Pay a visit to someone's house

Like a blue-arsed fly Running around, hectically busy

Look at the hole on yer one. That young lady has got a rather nice posterior.

May you die roarin' like Doran's ass! A curse

Me stomach/belly thought me throat was cut I was hungry

Miserable article Miserable person

Missed by a gee hair Just missed; can be used to describe a near accident

Mutton dressed up as lamb An aul wan trying to look like a young want.

Off the drink Not drinking for a while; means you're not drinking for a while. Typically lasts as long as the hangover!

Off your nut Crazy - 'That fella's off his nut'

One wit more and he'd be a half-wit Reference to poor intelligence

On the hop Playing truant from school

On the never never Hire purchase

On the piss A prolonged drinking session

Out o' me chunkeh Drunk, or possibly stoned.

Pucking your ring Being very sick

Pull your socks up Get to work/get busy

Pulling me plumb Doing absolutely nothing

Pullin' me wire Having a wank

Run your lamps over Look at, check out

Scalped with an Ash Plant Hit with a hurling stick

She nearly had a canary She had a fright

She's no oil-painting She's not pretty

Shite or get off the pot Make your mind up!

Six o' one, half a dozen o' the other Exactly the same

Smell of benji Rotten smell; also at the back of the 41B bus

Snotty nosed little shite Stuck up, posh

Soft aul day, it's a Usually said by old people when referring to a typically Irish day, i.e. a soft rain falling

Sparrow fart Someone or something small

Specky four eyes Anyone who wears glasses

Stop the lights! Really?!

Suckin' diesel Having a good time

'sufferin ducks! expression of amazement

Sure even Des Kelly wouldn't lay her, sure the bleedin tide wouldn't take her out. A way of referring to an unattractive female

That bockedy-arsed oul' bitch! An insult

That fella is as wide as a gate A cute person

That fella'd skin a fart That person will do anything for money

That fella's a right cur That person is a clever individual

That fellow'll be late for his own' funeral A slow person

That fella' would steal the cross off an ass' back Thief

That one is so mean she puts the butter on the bread with a feather and takes it off again with a razor A mean person

That's an awful mornin'; it looks as if it has been up all night Bad weather

That's what she said on her wedding night A term used when someone wants to turn an innocuous comment into a vulgar one. Example; Joe " I've one here for you " Pat " That's what she said on her wedding night".

That snotty nosed little shite An insult

The fag on the crag A statue of Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square, Dublin

The floosie in the jacoosie A statue of Anna Livia on O'Connell Street, Dublin

The hags with the bags A statue of two women with shopping bags on Liffey Street, Dublin

The head on him and the price of turnips Who does think he is

The tart with the cart A statue of Molly Malone on Lower Grafton Street, Dublin

There's no use in bein' iggerant (ignorant) unless you can show it. A statement about obvious stupidity

There's only one head bigger than Joe's and that's Bray Head.

(A hill outside Dublin) A statement about obvious conceitedness

They're like arse-holes, sure everybody has them Reference to something in plentiful supply

Thick as a brick Stupid

Thick as a plank Stupid

Throwing shapes Showing off / acting tough

To wet a few throats To buy a few drinks

Twistin' hay Starting trouble (usually in a playful way)

Up in the gods Being high up above the action

Up on a post-box An erection

Watch yer house Be careful!

Wet the tea Make a pot or cup of tea

What am I like I've been a bit silly

What are ye at? What are you doing?

What's the crack? How are you? / have you any news?

Whats de story? Whats up?

What's bred in the marrow comes out in the bone: If parents are bad people then their children will turn out to be bad people

Where would yeh be goin' an' no bell on your bike Phrase used to seek explanation for action

Will ye give it over! (said with an emphasis on over) Will you ever stop fooling around

Ya bleedin' mule U (you) fool

Ya bollixya Phrase used to indicate someone is a bollix

Ya legend Compliment on a job well done.

Ye comin' for a pint? Will you be in attendance at the public house this evening to partake in the consumption of alcoholic beverages?

Yer wan w'll be late for his/her own' funeral Tardy, Slow

Yer man would be a good messenger to send for Death Tardy, Slow

Yoke-eh-me-bob A name that can be given to any object

You have no call to that You have no right to that

You're gas craic ,your mother must have been a cylinder!" : Gas means funny, Crack (Craic) means fun