Even though English is the spoken language in many places, it is also a very regional tongue. We recognize that in accents across the US and more so in other countries. But even more than the accents are the words that are used in a different manner. Traveling to the UK, we expected to hear "boot" instead of "trunk" (on the car) and were amused that the Irish have "boot sales" in parking lots...a sort of flea market from the car. We also were not surprised to hear Charley and Addy's "diapers" referred to as "nappies". But there were words and phrases that gave us pause.
One word often used is "brilliant" as in "excellent", "wonderful", "good job", etc. "Epic" is also used more than in the US.
When we went to the concert given by the Uganda choir, the leader talked about "buck ejit". We had a fun time trying to first, understand what they were describing and then seeing where it would fit. We even saw t-shirts at St. George's Market with "buck ejit" so we know it's a popular term.
"Craic" pronounced "crack" simply means a good time or some fun. We enjoyed many moments of "craic" and then learned that a really good time was "quer craic". I doubt if any of us will use the term "craic" when telling our Indiana friends about our trip. It would be too difficult to explain that we had some good "craic"....knowing that they would be hearing good "crack"!
Walking about is a "wee dander". The four younger ones of our little group took many wee danders around Dundrum. They especially loved the castle, walking up there several times. The guide was a delight and the castle ruins amazing. However the main reason for the treks was to take pictures of the bay and the distant mountains with no mist.
We were "chuffed" many times...."delighted". Irish phrases just roll off the tongue of our friend Deirdre! Emy was our naive one, believing whatever tale Richie would weave. Deirdre told Emy, "you're not nearly as green as your cabbage looks." Another time we were telling about someone who had their priorities a bit mixed...Deirdre said they had "a fur coat but no knickers!" And yet another time, she got us back on track when we were headed into a bit of gossip by saying...."that's past remarkable" meaning we should stop our remarks!
There were other words and phrases but one that we all used the same is "I will miss you so much!" And we all can agree on that!
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