Ten Words or Phrases You’ll Hear in Dublin, How to Say Them and What They Mean
You’ve finally made it to Ireland. You’ve stepped off the plane into the lovely drizzle and you are heading into Dublin City. Maybe you already know some Irish people, or maybe you’ll meet your first while you’re here; either way, after a few days you’ll quickly realise that Irish English has a vocabulary all of its own!
As an Irishman who has moved abroad and had people very confused by some of the things I say, I’m here to give you a quick introduction to Irish words and slang that will have you hopefully not sounding too much like a fish out of water. So from asking about the craic to being told something is grand, these are ten words and phrases you’re likely to hear around the city.
The Craic
Maybe you are already familiar with this one, it has become quite well known! Craic is used to mean anything akin to fun, a good time, gossip or whatever is currently going on. It was once quite widespread throughout Britain and Ireland (English people still say ‘to crack on’, meaning get on with something) but it’s use with this meaning of current goings-on and enjoyable times is essentially an Irish thing. It has been absorbed into our language with the Irish spelling of craic, to distinguish it from the more prosaic (and potentially dangerous) word ‘crack’.
So for you, “What’s the craic?/Any craic?” means “what’s happening?” and if you’re “Having the craic” it means you’re having a reasonably good time. However, if “the craic was mighty”, then you are having a fantastic time, though this expression is not typically used by Dubs. A notably modern use of the word comes in describing a humourless person; you absolutely must avoid being labelled as ‘craic-tose intolerant’.
Grand
This one does a LOT of heavy lifting in the Irish vocabulary. It can mean anything from fine to very good to relatively not okay. Someone asks how the job hunt is going and it’s not going well, or someone asks how the new car you love is, or what you think of some food you ordered that is pretty average – “It’s grand” is an appropriate response to all of the above. You need to assess the tone and context to figure out what they really mean. Understand that “grand” usually represents baseline satisfaction rather than unbridled enthusiasm. For example, if you get to grips with the words and phrases we are discussing here, you will be grand (you’ll get by fine in the pragmatic sense).
It can also be used to signify your approval, so if someone explains a plan to you, like “will we go down the quays and have a few jars?”, then “yeah grand” means you agree. “Grand job!” means you agree with some enthusiasm. Damo Mac Choiligh, with the big Dublin head on him, is very prone to using this phrase.
Yoke
This is a very commonly used word and is interchangeable with the word ‘thing’. Thus it can refer to pretty much any object, but usually means you’re referring to something you are either unfamiliar with or find annoying. “Do you know the yoke you use to…”, “Get this stupid yoke away from me” and so on. The word derives from the general term ‘yoke’ meaning a burden or a harness, hence the negative connotation. Yoke can sometimes refer to a disagreeable person, as in “I can’t be listening to that yoke!” or “That yoke is wreckin’ me head!”
Jacks
The jacks refers to the toilets in Ireland, though you usually hear it in relation to the men’s toilet. So if someone asks you “Where are the jacks?” or tells you they’re “just heading to the jacks”, well you know what they mean! As a side note, if someone says to you “I’m going to the jacks.” and you felt that this was too much information, the appropriate response is “Well I can’t do it for you.”
This is another word that was once widespread – if you watch the later, superior, remake of the film True Grit, there is a scene where the character Rooster Coghburn is being addressed by Mattie Ross while he is about his business in an exterior WC. He says, from within the outhouse, “The Jakes is occupied!” Note the slightly differing pronunciation.
One last note – if you encounter an older Dub, who wishes to tell their companions, but not you, that they are heading to the bathroom, they may declare that they are heading to the house of wax. I will leave you to figure that one out.
If you want to know the origin of the term jacks, then this renowned Irish newspaper has you covered with the unalterable truth:
Giving Out
If someone is giving out to you, you will know it for sure! This phrase means to scold someone or complain about something. It is pretty much a direct translation of the Irish ‘Tabhairt amach’ (pronounced like taow-art amawkh). So if someone is giving out to you they are telling you off or scolding you (whether you deserved it we will leave to you and your conscience), but you can also give out about something, which means you are complaining about it. “I was given out to by that person” or “Ah she was giving out about how long it took.”
Yer man and Yer wan
This is how we tend to refer to a man or woman over somewhere. It is usually accompanied by pointing or nodding the head to indicate the location of the person being referred to. And this one tends to illicit the most confusion, as people quickly inform you that the individual in question is not their man and their partner is in fact elsewhere. You need to understand that Irish people use this to refer to someone whose name they don’t know, especially someone whose name they simply don’t care enough about to mention. “Ah, you see your man over there by the counter?” “I was talking to your one in the shop yesterday and she told me to ask me arse.”
C’mere to me now
You’ll hear this at the start of a conversation or sentence when someone wants to get your attention or has something very important (at least in their minds) to say to you. It can be a friend looking to quietly tell you something: “Come here to me, do you see that guy sitting across from us…” or a drunk at the pub looking to tell you the most outrageous tale you’ve ever heard: “C’mere to me now, did you know that Taytos were invented as a means of population control by Prince Phillip?” It can be quite menacing; in times past, if your mother wished to educate you on the finer points of kitchen etiquette, that is to say, not leaving the place like a sty, she would start her remonstrations with the grim “C’mere to me you ya little bollix!”
Having Notions
This is the single biggest thing you want to avoid while in Ireland. Put simply, the word notions can be used as a dismissive put down or to indicate someone has ideas above their station. To be “having notions” means you are thinking a bit too highly of yourself. You may not even be aware of it, but people could be saying “the absolute notions on that lad” to denounce your aspirational nonsense. Think of it as the delusions of delusions of grandeur. “What are you wearing such a fancy coat for, sure we’re only going for a pint? The notions on you.” “Ah did you see Laura’s Instagram story? High tea at some fancy hotel!? The absolute notions on that girl, was far from high tea she was raised.” This is linked to the concept of begrudgery, taking down the high-and-mighty, an important Irish pastime which inoculates us from egomaniacs, cults of personality, hero-worship or the concept of leadership.
Sure Look(it)
Another heavy lifter of the Irish vocabulary. This serves as an expression of resignation or acceptance, or a way to end a topic or conversation. A very philosophical one for sure, so when things didn’t go your way you can just say “Sure look, that’s the way it is” or if something mightn’t turn out right “Sure look, be grand”. Dublin natives are more likely to say ‘Sure lookit’, regarding ‘Sure look’ as overly refined and verging on being English. The power of the expression is not to be underestimated; in the era of “this meeting could have been an email”, ‘Sure Lookit’ is a great way to wrap up a tedious discussion with endless proposals from waffling eejits with notions. And how good!?
Taking the Mickey
This is commonly used to refer to someone being silly or stupid, taking advantage of you or just taking liberties at other’s expense. “Ah he was just taking the Mickey” would mean that person was just messing around. But if someone is “taking the Mickey out of you” then they’re making fun of you. But if someone has told you they would meet you somewhere at 6, and you’ve been waiting a good half hour, then at that point that person is really taking the Mickey by taking this long.
The origin of this phrase is not clear. The explanation may lie in the word Mickey being used for a certain part of the male anatomy. A part that makes it male. Are you with me or do I have to spell it out !?
The phrase has been translated back into Irish as ‘Ag geobhaigh an Micheál‘, pronounced like ‘egg gyoh-ey on me haul’. You may hear this if someone is trying to conceal their scepticism from you, the visitor to our shores. And rest assured, we are not taking the Mickey with any of these definitions or explanations!
Text by Max