pimple: Zit.
piss artist: Alcoholic.
piss, taking the: Mocking or teasing.
pladdy: Low, seaweed-covered reef usually only exposed at low tide.
poke: Have sex with; a small parcel.
pong: British forces slang for “stink.”
pop one’s clogs: Die.
poulticed: Pregnant, usually out of wedlock.
powerful: Very.
power of: A great deal of.
praties: Potatoes.
professional titles: In Ireland for historic reasons, GPs and all specialists except surgeons used “Doctor.” Trainee surgeons used “Doctor” until they had passed their specialty exams, when they reverted to “Mister.” Dentists and veterinarians used “Mister” because their basic degrees were bachelorhoods, not doctorates. “Doctor” was also used by anyone with a doctoral degree (Ph.D., D.Sc., D.D., D.Mus., and the like). Professorial rank was reserved for university departmental heads or endowed personal chairs.
pull the other leg: Stop trying to fool me.
punter: Gambler, particularly on horse races.
pupil: Schoolchild. The term “student” in 1964 was applied only to those attending university, after high school.
purse: A small bag to hold money, usually carried in a woman’s handbag.
quare (nor): Ulster pronunciation of queer. Used to mean very or strange. Often succeeded with an added “nor” for emphasis. He’s quare nor stupid.
queer someone’s pitch: Stand in the way of.
quickening: The first time an expectant mother feels her baby moving.
quid: One pound sterling; a piece of chewing tobacco.
quids in: Everything is all right.
quits: Nothing owing on either side.
randy: Sexually aroused.
randy as an old goat: Very sexually aroused.
raparee: Originally, an unskilled labourer. Now used pejoratively for a ne’er-do-well.
rapscallion: Ne’er-do-well.
raring to go: Eager and fully prepared.
reader: Academic rank equivalent to associate professor.
recimetation: Mispronunciation of “recitation.”
registrar, medical: Trainee physician equivalent to a North American medical resident.
reverse the charges: Call collect.
right: Real.
right enough: That’s true. Used interrogatively it means, is that true?
rightly: Well enough.
rightly, it will do: It’s not perfect but will serve well enough.
rightly, I’m: I’m very well.
RMS: Abbreviation for Royal Mail Ship.
road bowling: A game where a 28-ounce metal ball, or “bullet,” is thrown, or “lofted,” over a fixed length of road. The contestant with the least number of throws wins.
roast someone: Verbally chastise.
rook: Take money by devious means; a black corvid; a chess piece, also called a castle.
roundabout: Traffic circle. Serves the function of a four-way stop. Vehicles approaching from the right have the right of way.
rubbernecking: Prying into another’s business.
ructions: Disturbances.
rug rats: Children.
run-race: Quick trip to, usually on foot.
Saint Stephen’s Day: December 26; Boxing Day.
savvy?: v: Do you understand? From the French Savez? adj: Wise about.
saying no more: The decision is final, or I’ll not tell you anymore.
scampi: The Norwegian lobster or Dublin Bay prawn—Nephrops norvegicus—a small crustacean like a mini-langoustine, served hot in bread crumbs or deep-fried in a light batter.
script/scrip’: Prescription.
scunner, take a scunner at or to: Dislike someone intensely and bear a grudge.
scutch grass: Coarse grass found growing in salty soil.
scuttle, coal: Bucket for containing coal for a fire.
see you?: Make no mistake, it is you I’m referring to.
semi: Semidetached house. Duplex.
shank’s pony: Your own two feet.
shebang, the whole: Lock, stock, and barrel. Everything.
sheugh: Bog.
shit, to: To defaecate.
shite: Faeces.
shooting brake: Woody.
shooting stick: A single-shafted walking stick with a metal point at one end. At the other end two wide leather handles can be pulled down to form a seat.
short and curlies: Pubic hair.
shout, my or your: Turn to buy the drinks.
shufti: Army slang. A quick look at.
sink a mouthful: Swallow.
Sinn Féin: Literally, ourselves. Pronounced “shin fane.” The political party of the Irish Republican movement.
Siobhan: Irish name meaning Joan, pronounced “shivawn.” I have omitted the fada (á) over the a, which lengthens ah to aw.
sister, nursing: In Irish hospitals nuns at one time filled important nursing roles. They no longer do so except in some Catholic institutions. Their honorific, “Sister,” has been retained to signify a senior nursing rank. For example, a ward sister is a charge nurse; a sister tutor is a senior nursing teacher. (Because nursing is now a university course taught by professors of nursing the position of sister tutor is now redundant.)
sixpence: One fortieth of a pound sterling, or about ten cents.
skate: A fish of the ray family. Once common, now endangered.
skinful: Drunk.
skitters: Diarrhoea.
skiver: Corruption of “scurvy.” Pejorative. Ne’er-do-well.
skivvy: From “scurvy.” Housemaid.
slagging: Can be a verbal chastisement (“She give him a terrible slagging”) or a friendly insulting banter.
sláinte (slaínte mHaith): Irish. Pronounced “slauntuh.” Your health.
slander: Verbal defamation of character as opposed to libel, or written defamation.
sliced pan, best thing since: Presliced, then wrapped, pan loaf (a loaf of bread) was reintroduced after the Second World War. To be better than it was to be the acme of perfection.
slip jig: Traditional dance.
slosh him one: Thump him.
slough about: Pronounced “sluff.” Laze around.
smacker: Pound sterling; a kiss.
snaps: Photographs.
snotters: Runny nose or boogers.
snowball’s chance: Implies, “as much as a snowball’s chance in hell.” No chance at all.
snowdrop: A small, delicate, white flower. Family: Amaryllidaceae. Genus: Galanthus. Blooms in Ulster in February.
soap bag: Sponge bag. Toiletry bag.
sodger: Soldier.
soft hand under a duck: Gentle or very good at.
solicitor: Attorney, but one who would not appear in court, which is done by barristers.
solid citizen: Reliable and trustworthy person.
sore tried by: Very worried by or very irritated by.
sound man: Sensible and trustworthy.
sparks, sparky: Electrician.
spavins: A disease of horses resulting in a swayback.
spill it: Tell us. Comes from gangster movies of the forties, when someone would “spill the beans.”
spinster of this parish: On the three Sundays prior to a church wedding, the minister read the banns, the announcement of the impending ceremony, from the pulpit. This was a formal announcement of intent. The single bride-to-be, a spinster, was always referred to in this way.
spondulix: Money.
spunk: True grit. Nerve.
SS: Abbreviation. Steamship.
stays: Whalebone corset.
stewing over: Worrying.
sticking out: Very good.
sticking out a mile: Absolutely the best.
sticking the pace: Hanging in.
sticking the pace rightly: More than merely hanging in.
stiver: The most trifling coin.
stocious: Drunk.
stone: Measure of weight equal to
14 pounds.
stoon: Sudden shooting pain.
stout: A dark beer, usually Guinness or Murphy’s.
strip camera: A narrow-lensed camera that exposed film at 55 feet per second, the rate at which horses gallop. Used to record the finish of horse races before digital cameras were invented.
strong weakness: Hangover.
suspender: Garter.
suspender belt: Garterbelt.
sussed out: Figured out.
sweetie: Candy. Also a term of affection.
swindle: Scam.
take a daisy: Relax.
take a gander: Look at.
take in: Hospitals in which there were multiple wards assigned each ward on a rotational basis for a twenty-four-hour period to accept emergencies.
take leave of your senses: Do something incredibly stupid.
take the light from her eyes: Confound or amaze.
take your hurry in your hand: Wait a minute.
talent: Unattached young women.
tall around: Fat.
Taoiseach: Irish, pronounced “teeshuck.” Prime minister.
targe: Bad-tempered woman with a vitriolic tongue.
taste, a wee: Small amount, not necessarily edible, as in “Put a wee taste of oil on the axle.”
ta-ta-ta-ra: Dublin slang. Party.
teetotally: Absolutely.
tenner: Ten-pound note.
Tenniel: Sir John Tenniel, ilustrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books.
terrible: Very.
that’s for me to know, you to find out: Mind your own business.
there: Used for accuracy or immediacy. Examples: That there dog (that-dog). There now (now).
thick: Stupid.
thick as two short planks: Very stupid.
thole: Tolerate or put up with.
thon: That.
thonder, it’s at: Over there. Usually indicated by pointing.
thrapple: Throat.
through the wars: Has been sick.
throw off or up: Vomit.
thruppenny bit: Predecimalization coin of the UK and of the Irish Republic before it converted to the euro; worth three pennies.
tickled: In full, “tickled pink.” Very pleased.
tic-tac man: Assistant to a bookie, who wears white gloves and by an intricate system of hand signals relays information about changing odds or updated news of a horse’s form.
tight as a newt: Drunk.
’til: Until. Can also be used geographically: “I’m going ’til (to) Belfast.”
tinker’s damn: Worthless item.
tinker’s damn, don’t give a: Could not care less.
toilet: Washroom; the specific piece of bathroom furniture, complete with a toilet seat.
toty: Small.
toty, wee: Very small.
tousling: Roughing up, verbally or physically.
“tower bird”: The cry when a wounded pheasant rockets skyward. It was also the nom de plume of Noel “Tim” Sedgwick, an editor of and contributor to the Shooting Times.
townland: A mediaeval geographic unit usually comprising a village and surrounding farms.
tried: Agitated.
tried, to get: Become agitated.
true day: Lovely day.
tuppence: Two pennies; 120th of a pound sterling, or about two and a half cents.
turf accountant: Bookmaker.
up the spout or pipe: Pregnant.
V.C.: Victoria Cross. Highest British award for gallantry, equivalent to the Congressional Medal of Honor. As opposed to all other decorations, which were awarded on class lines (see MM), it was open to all ranks. Cast from the bronze of Russian canons used in the Crimean War. It bore the motto “For Valour.”
walk out with: Pay court to. See also coortin’.
wean: Pronounced “wane.” Child.
wee: Small, but in Ulster can be used to modify almost anything without reference to size. A barmaid and old friend greeted me by saying, “Come on in, Pat. Have a wee seat and I’ll get you a wee menu, and would you like a wee drink while you’re waiting?”
wee buns: Very easy.
wee ways: Near.
Wellington boots, wellies: Knee-high rubber boots patterned on the riding boots worn by the Duke of Wellington.
wet, wee: Alcoholic drink.
whaling away at: Beating.
wheeker: Very good.
wheen: Number of.
wheen, brave: A very large number of.
wheeped: Whistled.
wheest, houl your: Be quiet. Hold (pronounced “howl”) your tongue.
wheezle: Wheeze in chest.
where to go for corn, did not know: Was completely stumped.
whin: Gorse.
whippet: Small, fast racing dog like a mini-greyhound.
whisky/whiskey: Scotch is “whisky,” as is rye. Irish is “whiskey,” as are Tennessee and bourbon. Both spellings are derived from the Gaelic uisce beatha (water of life). Interestingly, akuavit in Scandinavia and aqua vitae in Latin mean the same thing.
whore’s git: Whore’s bastard. Not a term of endearment.
wildfowling: Duck hunting.
willy: Penis.
wind: Intestinal gas.
won’t butter any parsnips: Will make absolutely no difference.
worser: As bad as it is possible to get; much more so than worse.
ye: You. Used frequently in Northern Ireland and much more commonly in the Republic (see yiz and youse).
yiz: Country pronunciation of youse (see youse below). Ye, yiz, and youse may be used in one sentence.
you girl, you: Emphatic words, usually of encouragement. “Go on you girl, you.”
you know: Used extensively as verbal punctuation, usually in circumstances where the listener hasn’t the faintest chance of knowing.
you’re on: Agreed to, or to indicate acceptance of a wager.
your head’s cut (a marley): You are being very stupid; your head is as small and as dense as a child’s marble.
your man: Someone who is not present but who has been heard of by others there. “Your man President Obama said …” Also, I’m your man.
youse: Ulster you. Usually plural but can be singular. See ye and yiz.
zizz: Nap.
ALSO BY PATRICK TAYLOR
Only Wounded
Pray for Us Sinners
Now and in the Hour of Our Death
An Irish Country Doctor
An Irish Country Village
An Irish Country Christmas
An Irish Country Girl
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
AN IRISH COUNTRY COURTSHIP
Copyright © 2010 by Patrick Taylor
All rights reserved.
Maps by Elizabeth Danforth
A Forge® eBook
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2174-9
eISBN 978-1-4299-6061-8
First Edition: October 2010
First Forge eBook Edition: August 2010
Patrick Taylor, An Irish Country Courtship
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