Following on from the scallions thread . . . . .

[SrSteveOskowski]

Isn't the 'language' difference between Ireland and the UK amazing all the same? And I don't mean the literal language, ie: speaking Irish instead of Welsh, English etc.
More that although we're all speaking English, it can be so different.

For example (I'm Irish) would I confuse people in the UK if I started talking about buggies, minerals, rashers, taytos, the messages and the hot press to name but a few?

How many of you would know what all these things are, or would you just think "What on earth is she on about?"

I've heard minerals used in the Midlands (England) too by older people but there's quite a large Irish community, well 3rd generation now. Because I've lived in so many places on two continents we words we use at home that are a mish mash.

Pierre Many/most people in the Republic of Ireland object to the term TODAY because they perceive it to refer to attempts by the British government /empire (from around 1600) or to attempts byEnglish troops plus certain groups of Scots (from the 1500s) to take over the island of Ireland. In the light of recent history, their objections are entirely understandable.

HOWEVER, when we are referring to the far distant past, I maintain that the situation is a bit different. The term 'Pretanic' = Britannic/British dates from ancient Greek times, and long predates the British empire and has nothing to do with it. It has also been conventionally used - with disclaimers - by historians describing the pre-imperial past of these islands, with no intent to be political. Unhappily, as we have seen, that still causes offence to some people for which I am honestly, genuinely sorry.

Thank you, Jane very much indeed for spreading oil on troubled waters.

I love threads like this😄 apart from when the geography pedants start bleating.
When I moved to a town near Cardiff from London's many years ago I was totally confused when someone asked me "Where to's the bus?" " I just looked blank and mumbled "um sorry I don't know". I thought maybe they were asking me where the bus we were all waiting for was going to. Seemed odd. Found out "where to" meant "where". Don't hear it much nowadays.
Oh and those black gym shoes were plimsolls in London, daps in Cardiff.
I often mixed up daps (plimsolls) and baps (bread rolls).

Countess Constance* shellakypookie is a term my mother uses occasionally even though she is not from the county where this is the usual term.

And a pencil sharpener is a parer. It always makes me laugh if I ask for a parer and a Brit says pair of what?

I'm English with a Scottish mum and living in NI. I love all the Scottish and Irish slang I can get my hands on (though some just sounds wrong in an English accent so I don't use it) apart from one: dodie for a dummy. I have no idea why it drives me so bananas but it does! Obviously I would never say this to anyone in person - I'm very aware I'm the interloper so I always defer to everyone else when it comes to slang and pronunciation. But I cannot bring myself to say dodie!

I've always said a topper when referring to a pencil sharpener, just to confuse things a bit more
Trousers/pants are interchangeable. My knickers are just that.

SrStevo a pencil topper to me is the fancy thing you put on the top of a pencil :-)
Also do you sometimes call your knickers trousers? Hahaha

Quare taken - very embarrassed

Did ye get the shift? - did you kiss him/her

Ah you're only plamasing ( pronounced plah-maw-zing) her/him - you're just saying what they want to hear.

Unreal - good/outrageous/ridiculous. All depends on context with that one

She's a dog - she's not a nice person

Bold - naughty ( can't even say naughty with a straight face tbh)

Lads - everyone

Awh musha - fake sympathy, used when you think someone's compliant is stupid

Are you going out or are you going out out??

nogravy My friend is from Wexford she would say "I've a quare bad hangover lads" doesn't sound the same in a Dublin accent :-)
We would have said "Did you meet her" which meant did you kiss with tongues and wayyyy back in the early 90's it would have been "Did you get off with him"

Scot of Irish descent raised mostly in England here (just to really confuse things!)

I'm used to adjusting my language depending who I'm talking to, where people get confused is I have friends with similar history to me with very posh English accents though, yet we'll blether away in scots (sans accent in their case) and people around us eg in English pub are completely befuddled!

I'm well used to "internally translating"

So

Juice (for all non milk/water/hot drinks in scotland) - needs to become squash/juice (meaning fresh juice)/pop or fizzy (depending on part of England) in England as a weegie though fizzy juice is ginger which dd laughs at despite her being raised just "doon the watter"

I can't find it (if anyone else can please post a link) but I'm sure Kevin bridges does a routine about "no' well" and "awfy no' well" and "naw awfy well" meaning COMPLETELY different things.

"A wrap-round pinafore was the right garment for that, or simply an apron." That's just reminded me my grannies always wore wrap around aprons at home, both working women but at home very domesticated and it makes sense they'd want to keep their work clothes clean/un damaged

Mind - meaning "remember" "mind how you used to..." "That minds me of when..." "Mind and don't go the short road..."

Where I got surprised was when I went to live in the Netherlands as an adult (had lived there as a young child but don't remember it much) and was worried if I'd get to grips with the language as until then I'd only learned French and Spanish, only to find there were a good few words the same or very similar to Scots or even Gaelic. I knew scandi countries had influenced I didn't realise it went that far south.

I reckon some of these are regional (yep, we may be small but we still have regional variations :-))

Anyone for:
He's a right gurrier.
S/he was gee-eyed.

Gurrier, like scanger but a gurrier is usually male though a scanger can be male or female.
Gee-eyed is one from the 70s/80s when I was a teen (Dublin, northside - not sure if that's relevant to this one). A gee (pronounced the same as Indian ghee) is a vagina (classy cat calls of the era included "Show us your gee"). But to be gee-eyed is to be pissed, drunk.

I’ve lived in England for 26 years and every now and again I find people looking baffled when I use a phrase or word. The problem is after this long I worry I’ve invented it myself 😂.
I remember being horrified when after living with my husband for 3 years he didn’t know where the hot press was . Does anyone else say “show” me that when they mean give me that. My DH takes great delight in picking it up and literally showing it to me.
Did anyone else wear rubber dollies (plimsoles) when doing PE at school?

@LucyBabs, no, my knickers are definitely just my knickers. Panties if you're Georgie Burgess

@Nogravyforyou, I'd forgotten about plamasing. When I was growing up, the local priest was an awful plamauser.

I shifted lads when I was a teenager. I believe the young people call it meeting these days. Thought that might be a regional thing too. Is it still shifting if you're a culchie?

Baggiegirl yes I always say show in that way! Does anyone insert random Irish words into their sentences? The older generation in my family often say something or a place is trína chéile (meaning messy/mixed up)

Pardon me, @Ottessa, where did you get the idea I posted to entertain the likes of yourself? Maybe try the cartoon network for that?! In all seriousness, there is an issue where Irish nationalists expect the world to respect the offence taken at terms like 'British Isles' but then get to spout a different kind of ignorance that depicts the UK as one unified anglo blob, as if Wales and Scotland are somehow more English than Ireland that has had some sort of English control for close to 9 centuries (Dublin has been ruled from England about a century more than northern Wales, and less than a century from Carlisle which is actually in England!).

I'm trying to think if we have an Irish word for someone who can't move on? Any ideas anyone?

@anniehm 'I've heard minerals used in the Midlands (England) too'
And in South Africa. Used to be used in Scotland and in parts of North America too. I assume it was originally just one of the words that emerged for the product when it was new, but stuck in Ireland and South Africa & some other places, but got supplanted in places where alternative words became dominant.

Well I heard that 'mineral' became the generic term for soft drinks in Ireland because the Irish soft drinks company Miwadi stood for Mineral Water Distribution. Little bit of trivia for you all.

Any idea why Scots call it 'ginger'?

Colour of Irn Bru?

@JaneJeffer I think gobshite or amadhan will suffice

I've just had fish and chips for dinner in Yorkshire and the shop called it's fizzy pop minerals on the menu.

The two ladies in front of me both got a fish in a breadcake.

The above words make complete sense to me, but I can spot at least three things that others will pull a confused face over.

Yeah ginger originally just referred to Irn Bru but some Scots now use it as a collective term for all soft drinks.

I've never heard it as a synonym for Irn Bru though, only as the generic term for soft drinks (e.g. ginger bottles)