< previous | next >

DUBLIN SAYINGS (continued)

• "Now you're suckin' diesel!" = You are on a roll, in the groove, the pig's back, etc. It is a country compliment but often heard in Dublin. The reference is to syphoning fuel and successfully extracting the precious (and disguisting) liquid!
• "I'll give ya a good larraping..." = I will give some physical punishment to you! It's usually said by an angry parent to a child.
• "Are you lookin' at me or chewing a brick...?" = Why are you staring with me with your mouth wide open?
• "If your granny had wheels she'd be a bus" = A response to someone who has just claimed something ridiculous!
• "He'd/She'd live in one ear and rent the other out in flats...!" = He or she is an opportunist and/or stingy, mean etc.
• "he'll/She'll meet himself/herself coming backwards" = There goes a very busy person who is always rushing about.
• "The job's oxo" [I don't know whether this saying has anything to do with the commercial beef stock] = I've finished that job for you
• "I'm up to me oxters" = I'm very busy at the moment [lit. - I'm up to my armpits; 'Oxter' is a very old Dublin word meaning armpit - thanks to Geraldine of Charles Byrne Music for reminding me about this one!].
• "I served me time" = I've been an apprentice tradesman. The UK meaning for this phrase often refers to serving your time as a criminal!
• "Yer not as green as you're cabbage-lookin..." = you're smarter than you look!

Sayings associated with colours

• Blue in the face = describes frustration, something perplexing. A negative phrase.
• Blue movie = a film with over 18s content!
• Green with envy = Jealous. I don't know why green is associated with envy; can anyone enlighten me please?
• Black as the Ace of Spades = something or someone who is dark. Not always referring to a person's skin, for example, it is often used to describe a dirty person. The Ace of spades is a playing card.
• "Red letter day" = special or unique day.
• Yellow bellied = someone showing cowardice.
• yellow pack = of dubious quality. "You have a yellow pack voice!" The origins of this expression are quite recent, and became associated with a series of cheap/value for money products in yellow packaging introduced by Quinnsworth (info thanks to my anonymous contributor), an Irish supermarket chain in the 1980s. Therefore, it makes no sense to non-Irish people

top of page

Guest sayings

Anon (Dublin):

Nearly never bulled a cow = nearly is just not good enough.

Fiona Logue (Dublin):

Lamb of the Devine Jasus = said when suprised or perplexed

Tony Ward (Sussex)

I'll burst ya = I'll give you a slap,etc.Get up the yard = get out of here