A Lesson In Irish Speak

After being here in Ireland for almost two months, I'm finally starting to get a hang of how Irish people talk. Can I always understand them? No. But we'll just call it a work in progress. Here is a condensed version of things that Irish people say and what they mean would mean to us in the U.S. (some are pretty much the same and others are a little odd):

• Craic (crack) = fun
• Gobshite = idiot
• Feck = essentially the PG-13 version of the F-word
• Shite = another way of saying shit
• Ah sure = a weird way of starting a sentence
• Grand = good, fine, okay
• Arse = a cooler way of saying ass
• Ye = the Irish pronunciation of you
• Jaysus = a weird way of pronouncing Jesus
• Ah here = weird saying that can't really be explained
• Yourself = another way of saying you
• Lads = referring to lots of people (girls and guys)
• What's the craic? = what's up?
• Give out = way of shouting at someone
• Yoke = thingamajig, thing
• Deadly = great
• Fair play = well done

Here are some other interesting/funny facts about Ireland:

• If you die of alcohol poisoning, you are considered a lightweight
• Chips are called "Taytos" and fizzy drinks are called "mineral"
• The best cure for a hangover is to go drink some more
• No one can go a day without saying 'Jaysus'
• Tea is the solution to every problem
• It is common to hear people refer to their moms as Mammy even if they're grown adults
• People are scared of the wooden spoon
• 'Now we're sucking diesel' means that you are happy with how something turned out
• Saying "I got stuck behind a tractor" is a perfectly good excuse for being late