SAYINGS (continued)

• "He went ballistic!" = he lost his temper (big time)!
• They're as thick as thieves" = They are extremely close, as in a business partnership. It is sometimes used to identify a pair of rogues but the 'thick' does not infer stupidity.
• "It's/SUBJECT beyond the pale". This is an historical saying, referring to the description by the English for Dublin's boundary, the Pale (from the French word for fence). The phrase usually refers to something uncivilized!
• "Well, I had one too, but the wheels fell off!" [said to your pal in response to hearing a foreign language whe don't understand it!]. Many thanks to Chris O'Dania for that!
• "The face o' that the price of marg...!" [A response to your friend when you see a look of amazement on someone else. 'Marg' = margerine, an expensive item when this saying came into use!

MEANINGS (with an example of spoken usage) 1 March 2009

• Creche = business that minds young children, usually of pre-school age.
• Bona fide traveller = genuine traveller. The term dates from a period when people could not drink in the afternoon, unless the drink was sostenance for people on long journeys. Some folk went to great lengths to pretend they were travelling, just to get an early drink.
• Spoiled priest = Man who was an apprentice priest (Novice) but failed to take Holy Orders. This term was popular in 20th century Ireland, but is less common now.
• Wireless = radio. The term must be at least 70 years old and I don't know of any such apparatus without wires!
• Box = Television. "What's on the box tonight"? = Do you know if there is anything worth watching on the TV?
• "Chief cook and bottle washer" = A label to bellitle someone who thinks they are more important than they are!
• "Nod off" = to fall asleep, frequently at a time other than bedtime
• "Bunch of messers" = group of people who are interfering with something in the name of fun! It is usually good-natured and not malicious. The "Messers' are typically making a mess, having interaction with somebody or something.
• Flick = film, movie (flicks = cinema, movie theatre)
• Flutter = bet, gamble with bookmaker/bookies
• Hooley = a party or celebration, usually with drink taken! It frequently features entertainment, typically music and dancing.
• Plug = element that fits a socket (usually electrical) OR a shameless advertisement, frrequently informal or verbal (such as an announcement at an event for a forthcoming event)
• Windscreen = windshield
• Chip = piece of fried potato, small stone, small element removed from a larger section. See other uses of chip here. NEW
• Readies = cash [the saying probably originates from borrowed money, eg, "have you got the readies?"] NEW
• Sprog = child
• Slag = to mock someone, not a woman of ill repute!
• Windy = scared (as well as when the isobars become closer on the weather chart)

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Guest sayings

Maddie (Ireland): I'm like the wreck of the Hesperus = you're a mess (the Hesperus was a shipwreck)

Wind yer neck in = calm down, stop shouting / showing off

I wouldn't call the Queen my aunt = you're perfectly content

He's as Irish as McGonigall's pigs = he's very Irish!

Pogue Mahoney (Ireland): He's as thick as gick = not very intelligent

Tony Ward From Dublin (now in Sussex, England): Yer man is locked = he is drunk