CHATTING LIKE A LOCAL

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We were so impressed at how friendly and welcoming the Irish are. They will greet you and talk with you quite spontaneously. (Don't expect THAT in Philly!)  Throughout your trip, you'll want to also listen for the differences in the Irish accents.

 

They have a good sense of humor too with one liners being their forte. Our driver, Mark, was especially good at this and he kept a perfectly straight face while slagging | jesting with us.  We didn't hear too much slang, but we are incorporating the slang we did hear where we can.

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In speech, aside from their accent, we noticed the sound made by "th" is complicated for many Irish.  We observed they frequently substitute a 'd' for 'th'.  "No bother" becomes "No bodder."  

 

Swearing.  The Irish are really good at it.  Amazingly good at it. You might even find it amusing how well (and fast) they are able to swear.

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An Experience in Dingle Pub. 

We step into Dingle Pub and there is plenty of activity.

We look around and spot empty seats where 3 young men are sitting.

Becky eyes the seats and asks, "May we sit here?"

"You aren't English are you?" one replies.

"No." We shake our heads.

"Then you can sit here." he offers.

Of course, they had to have known we weren't English from the American accent.  But we still found it amusing. 

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As we talked with them, we found they were actually in Dingle fishing, but live in Wales.  So my husband pulled out a photo he had of our nephew and a very large Tuna he had recently caught.  When they saw it..."expletive, expletive, expletive, expletive!"

"Did he catch that in Dingle Harbor?" said with disbelief.

"No, no, off the coast of New Jersey!" we answered.

Lots more expletives.  

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After all, "There are no strangers here,

only friends that you haven’t met yet." 

– W.B. Yeats