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 love this thread. I'm English but lived in Dublin for a year about 20 years ago and remember being so baffled about press for cupboard, and runners for trainers, amongst all the others on here mentioned. This is bringing back so many memories.

There is an Irish woman at my work who says "lookit" about 300 times per sentence. Is that an Irish thing or just a her thing?

Interesting thread. I’m Scottish and never knew about some similarities listed here. I also agree that the word ‘gotten’ gets attacked unnecessarily on MN.

There are honestly so many things I have only just learned that English people don't say and I've lived here 10 years now.

Wise up
Are you looking me?
I'm away here
Well (as a greeting)

I'm sure there are more but I can't remember right now. I was absolutely floored when I told a student to wise up and they asked me what that meant!

I'm English but my husband's Irish. A few years ago we visited his cousin in Monaghan and she turned to her 9 year old son and said, 'do you mind Hellostrawberries'. I was shocked 😂

I grew up between uk and Ireland and was in my late 20s before i realised no one had a fucking clue what i was on about if i told them not to be giving out to me or that i wasnt giving out to them. Etc.

The way I found out was my big boss asked for a 1:1 meeting with me in the board room later in the day and so i asked if I'd done something wrong.
He said no no.
i said oh okay but if he was wanting to give out to me he should just tell me straight as I'd rather know now.
He was confused then started looking embarrassed and asked if i was implying something sexual 😳😱😱😱😱
The guy was 2x my age?!?!
Then i explained what i actually meant and there was more general awkwardness.
Still cringe recalling it now...

‘Were you with’ meaning ‘did you hear/ experience’ eg ‘were you with the rain last night?’

‘grinds’ for private tuition

Omg I want to move to Ireland for this alone. I cannot stand the word poorly for the reasons you describe.

‘Let on’ meaning pretend or feign knowledge of eg ‘He didn’t let on he knew his wife was shagging the postman’.

Comes from the Irish ‘Lig sé air…’.

It is mocking, specifically if the nearest Irish relative is a ggrandparent or similar and the speaker has never set foot in Ireland. It garners an internal eye roll. I never experienced this when I lived in the US

All of these examples given:
Sound
Cop on
Who all went
Mother's Day
Safe home
Let on
I would use and don't think of as Irish. They're all common in English English I think.

I'm English and I've never heard anyone say that, where have you come across that?

That's a normal thing to say in England unless it's fallen out of use with younger people, I'd be surprised that someone wouldn't know that

It does happen but is also frequently given as an example of errors that drive people crazy in the same category as:
Should of
John and myself
Lay in
Pacific for specific
Etc.

Never heard anyone use floor to refer to the ground outside.

It's all over MN. That's where I came across it. It's clearly specific to some parts of England but it's definitely used commonly. Since I've spotted it, I've noticed it in eg interviews on the BBC and so on (eg someone being attacked & falling on the floor [outside](

There is an Irish woman at my work who says "lookit" about 300 times per sentence. Is that an Irish thing or just a her thing

Very much an Irish thing!

I'm English and contrary to lots on here I would use floor to refer to outside. Eg DS get up off of that floor, it's filthy. If relaying the story though I might say to DH there's mud all over his coat because he was rolling around on the ground. I don't really know why.

My grandpa was Irish, this thread is very nostalgic for me.

It's more pronunciation than vocabulary but my Irish room mate at uni used to say necklAce with emphasis on an ay sound, rather than the usual neckless (not quite but not sure how else to type it) type pronunciation

All those things I've heard people say, since I posted I've realised that lots of other posters had already pointed out that they've never heard anyone say it

I dot think I've ever seen it mentioned on here either but that's quite the same

I had a lovely Irish colleague until a few months ago and 'grand' was very much a part of her daily vocabulary.

It's more pronunciation than vocabulary but my Irish room mate at uni used to say necklAce with emphasis on an ay sound, rather than the usual neckless (not quite but not sure how else to type it) type pronunciation

This is the only thing someone has ever pointed out about the way I say something!

Thick
Why are you thick with me? Meaning why are you annoyed with me
In England thick means stupid

Not always, "thick as thieves" for instance.

I'm English and have never heard anyone say floor for outside ground. I also have never said Mothering Sunday, it's always been Mother's day to me and anyone I know.

"I will yeah" meaning I won't

"Now in a minute" meaning not now but later

This isn’t a thread about regional English dialects though. Ireland is a difference country.

Wallace (and Gromit) says "that's grand" quite a bit, so clearly also an English thing!

"what's the craic?" - what's going on?

"we'll have some craic" - we expect good time to ensue

"I was boking all night" - I spent the night vomiting

My personal favourite:
"Someone's stroked the stapler" - the stapler has been stolen

Also despise the word poorly

8 years of living in Essex and I still cringe when someone asks me if I'm all right. Especially when it's shortened to two syllibles: "aw-ait?" shudder

I (English) have heard a few people saying 'floor' for the ground outside, but it's just a mistake isn't it? I suppose because we're used to being mostly indoors. Not to be rude, but it's usually less educated people that seem to do it. As far as I know it's not regional. I could be wrong

'Let on', yes that would be used in English English.

'Poorly' used more when I was a child in the 1960s and 70s, and then mostly for children. Seems a bit charmingly antiquated now! The standard word in English English is 'ill' although 'sick' is creeping in, I've started using it myself a bit. Seems a more definite word than 'ill' which has a bit of a wishy washy sound.