Green’s Dictionary of Slang

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The Irish Times choose

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[Ire] Irish Times 22 May 4/3: It was not his intention to speak a mouthful of moonshine.
at say a mouthful (v.) under say, v.
[Ire] Irish Times 14 May n.p.: That very expressive phrase, ‘I don’t care a rap’, suggests a query as to its origin [BS].
at not care a rap (for) (v.) under rap, n.2
[Ire] Irish Times 20 March n.p.: If help is near at hand ‘a half one’ – in the vulgar vernacular – will be of benefit [BS].
at half-one, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 25 Mar. n.p.: In Dublin slang of the period a cobbler was known as a ‘waxy’ [BS].
at waxy, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 10 Mar. n.p.: The man from Belfast was in scathing mood [...] ‘Come to Belfast and have a look at our trams if you want to see real stream-lining. Stream-lining, mehawn!’ [BS].
at mehawn!, excl.
[Ire] (con. 1930s) J. Healy Death of an Irish Town in Irish Times n.p.: We went back to the doss house and there was a meal. I couldn’t peck it, cove; anyway I had a rake of sandwiches me mother made me and I pecked them and went to bed [BS].
at peck, v.1
[Ire] (con. 1930s) J. Healy Death of an Irish Town in Irish Times n.p.: We went back to the doss house and there was a meal. I couldn’t peck it, cove; anyway I had a rake of sandwiches me mother made me and I pecked them and went to bed [BS].
at rake, n.3
[Ire] Irish Times 7 Oct. n.p.: ‘One and One’ in Tahiti. The chips are down. The fish are fried to a crisp [by French nuclear testing] .
at one-and-one, n.1
[Ire] Irish Times 27 June n.p.: An unfamiliarity with the proper Dublin-brewed pint from Uncle Arthur is probably to blame for some of their condition [BS].
at Uncle Arthur, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 14 Nov. n.p.: She leaves the name of the father off the birth certificate, so she can go on the ‘book’ [BS].
at book, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 11 July n.p.: There’s a fervent wish that after the last ember of the Twelfth bonfires has been extinguished that people will settle [...] stay cool, and as they say up here, catch themselves on [BS].
at catch oneself on (v.) under catch on, v.
[Ire] Irish Times 1 July n.p.: Small wonder that Mildred Fox has been described by opponents as ‘country cute’ [BS].
at country, adj.
[Ire] Irish Times 24 Nov. 🌐 The Labour TD [...] said that the constant raising of the Government jet issue was ‘gobshite politics’ .
at gobshite, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 26 April n.p.: Has anybody noticed the state of the new £5 note lately [...] only a year after the Central Bank rather rudely stamped the £5 sign on Mother McAuley’s forehead, the note has become something of a holy show [BS].
at holy show, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 23 Dec. n.p.: The latter activity [hunting] has spawned some interesting prose and verse, often respectful of the fox – known, for example, as ‘the lad’ [BS].
at lad, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 7 Oct. n.p.: The modern spin doctor is [...] a combination of ‘cute hoor’ and master strategist, someone who can mind mice at the crossroads and write an election manifesto at the same time [BS].
at mind mice at a/the crossroads (v.) under mouse, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 25 Sept. n.p.: While some ‘Dubs’ consider provincials less than the full civilised shilling – ‘muck-savages’ is a phrase which comes to mind – some provincials appear to consider Dubliners less than fully Irish [BS].
at muck savage (n.) under muck, n.1
[Ire] Irish Times 6 Mar. n.p.: A leading member of London’s ‘Murphia’, the group of high-profile Irish who have made good [BS].
at Murphia, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 12 Sept. n.p.: I did attempt to make and bake a fruit cake, just for pig iron, so to speak [BS].
at pig iron (n.) under pig, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 25 Sept. n.p.: While some ‘Dubs’ consider provincials less than the full civilised shilling – ‘muck-savages’ is a phrase which comes to mind – some provincials appear to consider Dubliners less than fully Irish: ‘Jackeen’ in its etymology is a form of ‘Shoneen’, a sort of working-class ‘West Brit’ [BS].
at shoneen, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 3 Nov. n.p.: The problem with our ferret was that he was spoilt or a ‘sooner’. Instead of terrifying the rabbits [...] our ferret was satisfied to catch one, dine off it and fall asleep [BS].
at sooner, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 24 Oct. n.p.: The current meaning – in young people’s parlance – of the word ‘spa’ is crazy, mad, daft [BS].
at spa, adj.
[Ire] Irish Times 4 Dec. n.p.: A long strealy lad by the name of Finn [...] went to take a 70 [BS].
at streeler, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 9 Dec. n.p.: Unions and management in a Dublin hotel are at odds over the so-called ‘sweat drink’. Management at Jurys Hotel had called time on the traditional after work drink [BS].
at sweat drink (n.) under sweat, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 7 Oct. n.p.: There has been much guffawing [...] at the proposals by the Government cost-cutters that Garda ministerial drivers and minders be replaced by ‘yellow pack’ chauffeurs and security people from the private sector [BS].
at yellow pack (n.) under yellow, adj.
[Ire] Irish Times 9 Nov. n.p.: Collins was more than just a broth-of-a-boy swashbuckler [BS].
at broth of a boy, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 5 Jan. 🌐 It [Iceland’s first Ir. pub] apparently sold 100,000 pints of Guinness in its first two weeks. A Bjorn again market for the black stuff .
at black stuff, n.1
[Ire] Irish Times 22 Oct. n.p.: A group of pro-chastity campaigners are roving round the country in an effort to dissuade young people [...] from doing the bold thing until marriage [BS].
at do the bold thing (v.) under bold thing, the, n.
[Ire] Irish Times 4 May n.p.: Carson even attempts to find a history for the greatest expression in Hiberno-English, namely cat melodeon [BS].
at cat melodeon, adj.
[Ire] Irish Times 12 Oct. n.p.: Anyone considering further violence [...] should catch themselves on. It would be disastrous [BS].
at catch oneself on (v.) under catch on, v.
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