Read An Irish Country Love Story Online
Authors: Patrick Taylor
An Irish Country Love Story (52 page)
restful on the eye:
  Usually of a woman. Good-looking.
right enough?:
  Is that a fact?
rightly:
  Very well.
RMS:
  Royal Mail Ship.
rook:
  Black bird of the crow family.
rooked:
  Cheated out of money or paying too much.
rozzer:
  Policeman.
rubbernecking:
  Being unduly curious.
ructions:
  Violent argument.
said a mouthful:
  Hit the nail on the head. Are absolutely right.
Sassenach:
  Gaelic term originally applied to Saxons, now used, usually in a bantering fashion, by the Scots and Irish to mean “English.”
saving your presence:
  I am about to insult you, but please don't be offended.
scared skinny:
  Terrified.
scrip':
  Script, short for “prescription.”
see him/her?:
  Emphatic way of drawing attention to the person in question even if they are not physically present.
shenanigans:
  Carryings-on.
sheugh:
  A muddy place often fouled with cow clap.
shufti:
  Military slang, from the Arabic. Look-see.
sick line:
  Medical certificate of illness allowing a patient to collect sickness benefit.
sidhe:
  Irish. Pronounced “shee.” The fairies.
skelly:
  Take a quick look at.
skinful:
  One of the 2,660 synonyms or expressions for “drunk.” (
Dickson's Word Treasury,
1982)
skitters:
  Diahorrea.
skivers:
  Probably derived from “scurvy.” No-good wastrels.
sláinte
:
  Irish. Pronounced “slawntuh.” Cheers, your health.
so I am/he is/it's not:
  An addition at the end of a sentence for emphasis.
sparks:
  Electrician.
spirits:
  Of drink, any distilled liquor.
spud:
  Potato. Also a nickname for anyone called Murphy.
stew in your own juice:
  Worry and be bothered about something with no hope of resolving the situation by your own efforts. Often you have been the cause of the situation in the first place.
sticking the pace:
  Showing no signs of aging, fatigue, or decay.
sticking out/a mile:
  Good/excellent.
sting:
  Hurt.
stocious:
  See
skinful.
stone:
  All measurements in Ireland until decimalision were Imperial. One stone = fourteen pounds, 20 fluid ounces = one pint.
stoon:
  Sudden shooting pain.
sound/sound man:
  Good/good, trustworthy man.
surgery:
  Where a GP saw ambulatory patients. The equivalent of a North American “office.” Specialists worked in “rooms.”
swinging the lead:
  Malingering.
take a scunner:
  Really have it in for someone.
take yourself off:
  Leave me alone.
take someone out of themselves:
  Get their mind off their troubles for a while.
take the rickets:
  Have a great shock.
take the strunts:
  Become angry or sulk.
take yourself off by the hand:
  Don't be ridiculous.
tanned:
  Spanked. As in “getting his arse tanned.”
targe:
  Woman with a very sharp tongue. A scold.
tear away:
  Get on with it.
terrace:
  Row housing, but not just for the working class. Some of the most expensive accommodation in Dublin is found in terraces in Merrion Square, akin to low-rise rows of attached town houses.
tetchy:
  Irritable. Bad-tempered.
that there/them there:
  That/them with emphasis.
the day:
  Today.
the hat:
  Foreman, so called because his badge of office was a bowler (derby) hat.
the wee man:
  The devil.
thole:
  Put up with. A reader, Miss D. Williams, wrote to me to say it was etymologically from the Old English
tholian,
to suffer. She remarked that her first encounter with the word was in a fourteenth-century prayer.
thon/thonder:
  That/over there.
thran:
  Bloody-minded.
throughother:
  Slovenly. Carelessly untidy.
throw another spud in the pot:
  Add more ingredients to the upcoming meal because of the arrival of an unexpected extra guest.
til:
  To.
'til:
  Until.
to beat Bannagher:
  Explanation unknown, but means exceptionally.
tongue's hanging out:
  Very thirsty.
tousling:
  Beating up, either verbally or physically.
townland:
  Mediaeval administrative district encompassing a village and the surrounding farms and wasteland.
turd:
  Piece of faeces.
Ulster overcoat:
  Heavy-duty double-breasted overcoat.
up one side and down the other:
  A severe chewing-out.
warm:
  Well-off.
wasters:
  No-good wastrels.
wean:
  Pronounced “wane.” Little one.
wee turn:
  Sudden illness, usually not serious, or used euphemistically to pretend it wasn't serious.
wet the baby's head:
  Have a drink to celebrate a birth.
wheeker:
  Terrific.
wheen:
  An indeterminate but reasonably large number.
where to go for corn:
  Completely at a loss as to what to do.
yellow man:
  A crunchy honeycomb toffee associated with Ballycastle, Northern Ireland.
yoke:
  Thing. Often used if the speaker is unsure of the exact nature of the object in question.
you know:
  Verbal punctuation often used when the person being addressed could not possibly be in possession of the information.
you me and the wall:
  In strictest confidence.
your man:
  Someone either whose name is not known, “Your man over there? Who is he?” or someone known to all, “Your man, Van Morrison.”
youse:
  Plural of “you.”
zizz:
  Forces slang. Nap.
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Now and in the Hour of Our Death
An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War
An Irish Doctor in Love and at Sea
Home Is the Sailor
(e-original)
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Patrick Taylor
, M.D., was born and raised in Bangor, County Down, in Northern Ireland. Dr. Taylor is a distinguished medical researcher, offshore sailor, model-boat builder, and father of two grown children. He lives on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. You can sign up for email updates
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C
ONTENTS
2. A Cold Coming They Had of It
9. Flowing Water Near the House
10. The Hunter Home from the Hill
13. To Please Thee with My Answer
15. That Will Batter the Gateway
19. Wild Geese Spread the Grey Wing
21. A Little Sleep, a Little Slumber
22. Thou Migh's't Him Yet Recover