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E-mailDo the Irish speak a foreign language?
Story / IrishCentral's Irish slang translator / Click here
It’s a known fact immigrating to the U.S., Canada or Australia from Ireland has one clear advantage; both countries speak English. Although setting up home in a beautiful European country like France or Italy has its scenic advantages, the language proves to be an extensive barrier.
So the Irish tend to flock to places where they will be understood. Sounds like a plan! It is, until they disembark off a plane from Ireland and discover the natives of the country they just landed in have major trouble understanding what they are saying!
The following are real life examples of everyday words and phrases used by Irish people from across Ireland in conversations; words and phrases that have totally different meanings in countries like the U.S., Canada and Australia:
Jimmy in the Big Apple
Jimmy, a young buckoo (a young man) from Castleisland, County Kerry, arrives in New York. It’s his first night on the town with some of his American mates.
As they walk through the overpopulated streets of Manhattan, Jimmy, out of the corner of his eye, spots a woman he thinks is dressed “inappropriately”.
The Kerry man turns to his new friends and says, “Watch you wan la.” Jimmy’s American friends look at him confused. They look at each other to see if either of them understood this strapping (fine) young lad.
They didn’t.
Jimmy had to spend the next 10 minutes trying to explain to them that “Watch your wan la” literally meant, “Look at the woman there.”
Jimmy’s version, “Watch your wan la,” had an attitude about it, an attitude that stated the woman was a mess, or he didn’t approve of her attire, or the woman was doing something he didn’t like. So “WATCH YOUR WAN LA,” can be used as a snide remark about someone (if it was a man it would say, “Watch your man la.”
Roisin in Vancouver
Roisin, a County Roscommon girl who just arrived in Vancouver, Canada, had a near run in with a woman she worked with in an ice-cream parlor on her very first day.
Roisin’s colleague was a mature Canadian who had been working in said ice cream parlor for a lengthy number of years. On her first day Roisin thought one of her colleague’s stories was amusing. Trying to pay her a compliment, Roisin said in response to the story, “You’re gas.”
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