Irish in the UK - what are the things that it took you ages to realise people don't say here.

[ConflictedCheetah]

Inspired by the thread about Pancake Tuesday.

That thread has cracked me up because SO many posters are insisting no one EVER calls pancake Tuesday - it's Pancake Day - and sayu it's weird and wanky to call it that. And then all the Irish people on the thread are like ' wait, we've always called it that and never noticed that no one else did.

So what else you got?

For me, and I'm here 20 years, I only found out about a year ago that no one here calls a birth certificate a 'birth cert'. My English husband thought it was proper weird that I kept saying that. I had never picked up that it wasn't a thing! I think Irish people are so used to talking about the Leaving Cert or Junior Cert etc. that the Cert but feels natural. DH says no.

What other ways have I been unknowingly embarrassing myself for 20 years?

I assume nabos don’t grow well in Ireland or Scotland (or Sweden) so the distinction wasn’t required. Has this changed with imports and different varieties or would the little white and purple things be considered only fit for animal feed?
Even in England turnip lanterns were always made with swedes.

Rutabagas / neeps / turnips have yellow flesh. English (particularly southern English) people call them Swedish turnips, shortened to swedes. Smaller white-fleshed turnips are usually simply called 'turnips' in southern England, and 'white turnips' in Ireland (where they are not often used).

I'm being reminded of being a teenager, recently arrived from the site of my parents' exile on the other island, and making the mistake, back in the olden days before everything was pre-packed in plastic, of asking for a pound of bacon, and being handed a lump of meat. I learned the word rashers fast.

Have we had 'giving out stink?' yet - I think that's one of ours.

I was going to say you were unlucky with the bacon @DeanElderberry, but you mean that happened in Ireland?

In Ireland. It actually happened twice (I was a teenager, okay, and with hindsight, ADHD). Back in the 1970s. Rashers were rashers and bacon was something you boiled and ate with cabbage and potatoes.

They say bacon for rashers in the North of Ireland. My friend from NI always says bacon and never rashers. Not sure about Donegal and places.

Lads is a good one @Danik8. When I'm meeeting up with my exclusively female friendship group I'm meeting the lads. But I'm oldish. Not sure if younger people still use it the same way - anyone know?

Give out stink is still used! By me at least! Although my children are older now so less necessity to give out stink!

Templederry was wicked yesterday - BLACK with snow!

(Heard just now as I left Mass.)

Or giving out yards

Reminded me of using the word ‘stink’ to describe something disgusting although it seems to be limited to Tipperary particularly Clonmel and Cahir.

I've just read on one of the Spice Girls Geri / Christian Horner threads that ".........she'll be dug out of him."

Isn't that an Irish expression "I'll be dug out of ye." ?

Stink as we use it here reminds me of the excellent American expression 'stink eye' which I sometimes use in conversation with my ungrateful and unreasonable cats. I first encountered it on Hawaii 5-O, and see from googling that it did indeed originate in Hawaii.

Not sure if anyone has already mentioned it but... use of the term 'notorious'. My mum usually uses it to describe a 'notorious feed' - AKA a very large meal!

I've never heard notorious used in that context.
What part of Ireland is your mother from @Dallasdays ?

@LadyEloise1 West Meath...

Love yoke, Grand and Yer man. Although whenever anyone talked of Yer man I would look around wondering who my man was!

Sadly never got to know any of my Grandfather's saying (from Sligo). He hardly spoke as his domineering wife from Glasgow talked enough for the both of them!!

He let out at me.

That bin is leaping.

Aye, you did so.

Are you in the north of the country maybe @Cattenberg?
I've never heard any of those.

I’m not Irish. They were terms used by two former colleagues. One was from the Province, but the other was from Dublin.

I think the first meant “to have a go at someone”. “Leaping” definitely meant “smells bad” and my colleague from Dublin would say the last to mean, “oh, yes you did, didn’t you?”

Her: “Where is file X?”

Me: “I gave it to Colin”

Her: ”Aye, you did so”

Oh right.
Where is the Province? Northern Ireland?
I don't think Dublin people usually say 'Aye' but I could be wrong.

Aye is more of a Northern thing.
Cavan,Monaghan Donegal, Louth and the 6 Counties

Fully agree. I love it.

Great thread. I’m familiar with most terms due to Irish friends and reading Marion Keyes books some years ago.

My dh might have the most wonderful holiday, day, work meeting, experience etc and you'd ask him how it went.
"Grand" is invariably the reply. 🙄😀

Yes, Northern Ireland. In a later job, I spoke to many Irish and Northern Irish people by phone and noticed that they tended to refer to “the Province” and “the Republic”. So I assumed they were the preferred terms these days.

@Cattenberg
I've never heard it called the Province but maybe it's used in another part of the country?
I'm pretty far south.

There are 4 provinces on the island of Ireland, the most northerly of which is Ulster. NI is actually smaller than Ulster as part of Ulster is in ROI. (Ulster is literally, geographically divided.)

Some people, usually Unionists, do say Ulster to mean NI, but I've just not heard the Province used to mean it personally. If you've heard it then it obviously is used, but I wouldn't say it's a preferred term or widely used, no.

This really made me laugh.

I spent the first few pages of this thread thinking how common the term “give out” was in the 90’s in SE England. We definitely meant it in the way your boss understood it though 😂