“Shainte!” Is this Irish for “Cheers”? What other such Irish expressions are quite common? And, is “saykes and b’geerah” (true sp?) a real expression, too? Just wondering…
Ahhhh, t’anks to all fer yer help!
- Jinx
It’s sláinte, first of all. Literally means “health”.
Other common Irish expressions are “Jaysus”, “feck sake” and “me arse”. Nobody says “begorrah” except Americans.
The word is sláinte. It’s pronounced: “slAHN-chu” and means “health”.
I’ve never heard of “saykes”, but the cliché is “faith and begorrah” (sakes may be a corruption of “the Lord’s sake”), which I think comes from “By God” (not 100% sure about that).
I don’t think anyone uses this phrase outside of stereotype or jest.
Ooops, I didn’t preview to see ruadh’s post.
Correction to my second paragraph: I’ve never heard of “saykes”, but the cliché is “faith and begorrah” (“saykes” may be a corruption of “the Lord’s sake”). I think “begorrah” comes from “By God” (not 100% sure about that).
Well, I believe I just coined “saykes” because that’s what I thought I was always hearing people saying…in lieu of a swear, I WAGged. Thanks fer settin’ mee straight, now!
One more out-of-season question: Is a shamrock just Irish for clover? Or, is it slightly different? - Jinx
A shamrock is a totally different plant to clover. It’s much more of a bushy plant with very small, delicate leaves.
How about “póg mo thóin,” Jinxy?
I always thought it was sure* an’ begorrah…
Hey, at least that rhymes.
Slainte posts here, btw.
When TGI Friday’s used “slainte” at the end of their commercials, I thought they were saying - no joke - “So whyncha?” As in “so why don’t you?”
Anyway, isn’t “slainte” Gaelic? Or is that what you guys mean when you say it’s an Irish word?
The language is called Irish. It belongs to the Gaelic group of languages.
Well, there are areas mainly in the west of Ireland where Irish is the first language (Irish is my wife’s first language) called Gaeltacht - in these places, the whole language is Irish.
If you mean which Irish language expressions are common in the English-speaking parts of Ireland, I can only think of a couple - people occasionally say bainne (BAHN-yu) for milk, leabaidh (LA-ba) for bed. Most Irish government instutions are named in the Irish language: Bord Gáis (Gas board), An Taisce (National trust), Bord Bia (the food board), Iarnród Éireann (Irish rail), Bord na Móna (the Irish Peat Board).
Some real Irish people (rather than plastic Paddies) might be able to help out better.
Er… how?
BTW, as already stated, póg mo thóin is occasionally used too. I’ll let you find the meaning out yourself.
Don’t forget the national police, the Garda Síochána.
And of course the political parties Sinn Féin (shin feign), Fine Gael (fee-nuh gale), and Fianna Fáil (fyuh-nuh foil).
And the battle cry of the IRA, tiocfaidh ar la (chucky are law) - “our day will come”.
I take it the OP has been reading the Killian’s bottle.
Never heard anyone pronounce it that way. “Feena foil”, more like.
Ah well, I did my best.
Indeed I do. I visited Dublin about 4 years ago and enjoyed several pints of Guinness to that toast.
acsenray, jjimm, you can kiss mine - fat, hairy and English though it is 
Okay, maybe they only rhyme in my head. I’ve never heard “begorrah” pronounced; I’ve only read it. I thought it sounded like “buh-GORE-ah,” which would make it a rhyme with “sure.” If it were true, that is.