6 Irish Slang/Phrases to Learn Before Traveling to Dublin

1. What’s the craic?

Slow down there, cowboy. Not the crack—the craic. When someone asks “What’s the craic?”, they are most likely asking about how you’re doing or what’s happening. They’re probably not looking for the nearest… well, you know. So make sure you know the difference.

2. Yoke

When I say this means anything, I mean literally anything. For example, if you’re in a room that resembles an I Spy scene, and someone says “Get me that yoke over there,” you probably want to measure the exact trajectory of his or her arm and figure out exactly what he or she is pointing at. Otherwise you’ll never get the right yoke.

3. They’re ‘trousers’, not ‘pants’…

Unless you’d like to be directed toward the undergarment and lingerie section of Penny’s or Debenhams, ask where the trousers are. And surely don’t leave the gaff (bonus point! your house) in only your pants, because the Gaurdí will find you… and they will have you put on some trousers.

4. Your man/your one

If you’re on a stroll with an Irish friend, don’t be alarmed if they say something about ‘your man over there’, referring to a strange-looking male you’ve never seen before in your life. ‘Your man’ basically means any male ever, and ‘your one’ basically means any female ever. This can get a bit dodgy, I know. But it’s quite a helpful tip when you’re on the receptive end so you don’t go sifting through your mental list of every person you’ve ever met, trying to figure out who on earth they’re talking about. So no worries; your man is just very Irish.

5. Quid

Sure, if we were in 19^th century, we might be referring to one pound sterling when we say quid. But today it’s just about spicing up language, as the Irish do so well. There’s no denying it would be a boring pain in the hole to say “I paid fifty euro for it,” or “It was only five euro!” or “that’ll be twelve euro.” So, the Irish say quid.

6. Fair play!

For Irish people, it would just be too bland to say “Hey, nice job on the presentation,” and it would certainly be too much jumble to say “I didn’t think ya had it in ya, but you pulled it off,” so they keep it short and sweet with “fair play” instead.

So remember, the best craic you can get out of about four quid is to have a good old conversation with your man who has the drink yokes behind the bar. And fair play to ya if you remember to put on trousers.

Gabriella Bancheri is a student at the Stockton University and is an ISA Featured Blogger. She studied abroad with ISA in Dublin, Ireland.

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