“Pissed” & More Irish Slang Words

Blog
12 March 2024
By Sarah Angela Almaden
Japanese House

Unsplash: Sam Barber

If you have recently been keeping up with 2024 film awards, you’d know that Cillian (pronounced as ki-lee-uhn) Murphy won Best Actor for his role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist who was also the director of a project that developed the atomic bomb. Yeah, Cillian Murphy won a BAFTA for Best Actor and he also won his first Oscars for Best Actor playing Oppenheimer. If you haven’t seen the film, give it a watch so you can learn about Oppenheimer and this massive World War II project. As Murphy said in his speech “We (the Oppenheimer team) made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb, and for better or for worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world. So I would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere,”

Now, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s American. Cillian Murphy’s not American. Cillian, yes I like to call him Cillian as if we’re best of friends, is Irish. He is an Irish actor. If you listen to him speak, you hear his Irish accent. His captivating Irish accent to be exact. He has that sound that once you hear it, you’ll want to come back listening to it over and over and over again. It’s magic or something. Or maybe it’s just the Cillian Murphy effect that mesmerizes you and puts you in a calming, soothing trance.

When I hear Cillian’s name, I think of Ireland. And then I think of Ayo Edibiri, the people’s Princess of Ireland. I’m not quite sure why that happens but it happens. And then I wonder: what is Cillian’s favorite Irish slang and what is Ayo’s favorite Irish slang? Perhaps, I don’t have the answer to those questions. Kind of a bummer. But that’s okay. I can always ask these Irish treasures my questions later on when we are having tea or something. Anyhoo, I have a list of Irish slang words for you. Maybe you’d find your favorite Irish slang from this list. Wouldn’t that be cool?

  • craic: having a fun time or having a good time
  • in bits: drunk
  • thick: stupid
  • arseways: confused
  • crack on: to get going
  • deadly: brilliant
  • fluthered: drunk
  • tae: tea
  • bang on: something that is correct
  • banjaxed: broken
  • bollocks: nonsense
  • gaff: a house
  • boyo: another word for boy
  • pissed: drunk
  • plonker: a fool
  • lashing: pouring rain
  • gowl: a foolish person
  • rotten: someone or something very bad
  • spuds: potatoes
  • gander: a quick look
  • jacks: toilet
  • kip: a nap
  • ossified: drunk
  • manky: something dirty
  • dose: something that is annoying
  • fair play: good job or well done
  • scoops: a few pints of beer
  • tool: an idiot
  • what’s the story: another way to ask “how are you” or “what’s up”
  • swift one: a quick drink
  • steamin: drunk


Related Posts