# Ask the drunken Irishman. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651 "2007-10-23T01:51:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/81 "2007-10-25T19:43:53Z")
What does Faugh A Ballagh mean? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/82 "2007-10-25T19:44:09Z")
Are you still drunk? ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/83 "2007-10-25T20:25:15Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] What does Faugh A Ballagh mean? [/QUOTE] This one, I know: “Clear the way.” Also seen as _fág an bealach_. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/84 "2007-10-25T20:44:43Z")
[QUOTE=Daithi Lacha] This one, I know: “Clear the way.” Also seen as _fág an bealach_. [/QUOTE] Ah, cool! It’s the motto of an Irish Regiment that may have been the one my great great grandfathers served in during the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/85 "2007-10-25T21:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Some of my best friends are Irish Americans. It’s a complex issue for me. It’s very hard to call someone up on their “culture”. Are Americans who proclaim their Irishocity, wear green, and drink guinness and sport Bobby Sands t-shirts any less or more corny and authentic than Irish people who sport Che Guevara t-shirts and dreadlocks or dress like an extra from MTV’s Laguna Beach? Some Americans have a long, clear and proud link with the old country that it would be extremely offensive for me to deride. The kitchier ends of things are ripe for lampooning but that’s often the way with the kitchier end of things in general. [/QUOTE] This was a remarkably thoughtful and measured response. Are you sure you’re drunk? ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/86 "2007-10-26T04:04:19Z")
_Abrakebabra_? What the hell? Is that as horrible as it sounds? ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/87 "2007-10-26T04:28:50Z")
[QUOTE=Barking Dog] _Abrakebabra_? What the hell? Is that as horrible as it sounds? [/QUOTE] They serve kebabs. Not shish kebabs, on a skewer, but doner kebobs – it’s like a gyro, but with cabbage and a spicy sauce (not a cooling cucumber & yogurt concoction) stuffed into a pita. Quite nice after a coupla jars. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/88 "2007-10-26T15:12:58Z")
Oh. Sounds kinda nice actually. Still, that name… lol ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/89 "2007-10-26T16:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Are you still drunk? [/QUOTE] Nope, but will likely be doing myself damage tonight. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/90 "2007-10-26T16:03:52Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] This was a remarkably thoughtful and measured response. Are you sure you’re drunk? [/QUOTE] Thank you, I’m not drunk right now but this is a subject I’ve thought about alot and I do think about when I’m drunk. I find there’s a vaguely creative element that comes to the fore when you’re sozzled or recovering from getting sozzled. You make connections you otherwise might not. It was an ironic culture shock for me when I first visited my girlfriend in America. She and her friends love Irish music or Irish-influenced music more than most Irish people I know. They could sing more Irish rebel songs than almost anybody I know. I found this perplexing and incongruous initially. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/91 "2007-10-28T18:26:22Z")
No more questions? Ok then, I’m off to get _really_ drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/92 "2007-10-29T15:25:15Z")
Is hurley a popular sport nowadays? And do you follow it? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/93 "2007-10-29T18:52:58Z")
Do you know of/enjoy the band Horslips? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/94 "2007-10-29T18:56:07Z")
[Quote=Barking Dog] Is hurley a popular sport nowadays? And do you follow it? [/Quote] Hurling is an immensely popular sport in parts of the country. I’m not a follower of it nor any other sport really. [Quote=Bwanabob] Do you know of/enjoy the band Horslips? [/quote] Ah yeah. I love them. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/95 "2007-10-29T19:02:27Z")
Éirinn go brách! a) What is your average level of drunkenness, on any given day, and b) What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever done while drunk? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651/96 "2007-10-29T23:10:00Z")
a) I’m sober 4 or 5 days out of 7. Drunk/plastered/flutered 1 night and merry another night. so i’m 4/7ths or 5/7ths sober on average… eh i think. b) One time I pretended to be french (i’ve scant recollection) but I spent ages speaking French to these other Irish guys and they were speaking back to me in their basic school-learned French. The guys kept saying to my friends “hey is he really French? That’s cool” etc. After a while I turned around to my friend and said “here we’re gonna miss the bus” and the guys started shouting “you’re not french!!” Might be one of those, had to be there moments though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-drunken-irishman/423651.md?page=4)