Vocabulary
Much non-standard vocabulary found in Ulster English and many meanings of Standard English words peculiar to the dialect come from Scots and Irish. Some examples are shown in the table below. Many of these are also used in Southern Hiberno-English, especially in the northern half of the island.
| Ulster English | Standard English | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ach!, och!, ack! | annoyance, regret, etc. | interjection | Pronounced akh or okh. Usually used to replace "ah!" and "oh!". Ach is Irish for "but", and can be used in the same context. Och is Irish and Scottish Gaelic for "alas", and again can be used in the same context. Cf. German, Dutch, Frisian ach and English agh, Dutch has both ach and och. |
| aul, oul | old | adjective | Pronounced owl. From auld, an archaic form of old that is still used in Scots and Northern English dialects. |
| aye, auy | yes | adverb | Used throughout Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England. General Scots and dialect/archaic English, first attested 1575. |
| bake | mouth | noun | A different pronunciation and extended meaning of beak. Dutch bek is used as a rude word for mouth too |
| banjax | to break/ruin/destroy, a mess |
verb noun |
Used throughout Ireland; origin unknown. |
| blade | girl | noun | Mainly used in Tyrone with different meanings depending on usage, but always refers to a female. "Look at thon blade" – "Look at that girl"; "Our blade" – "My sister/cousin" (Can also be used as a term of endearment in this form) |
| boak, boke | to retch/vomit, vomit |
verb noun |
From Scots bowk. |
| bog | wetland/toilet | noun | From Irish bogach meaning "wetland". |
| boreen | a narrow road/lane/track | noun | From Irish bóithrín meaning "small road". |
| bout ye? | how are you? | greeting | From the longer version "What about ye?" ("What about you?"), which is also used. |
| bru | unemployment benefits | noun | Pronounced broo. Shortened from welfare bureau. |
| cat-melodeon | awful | adjective | Probably a combination of cat and melodeon, referencing the sound of a screeching cat and badly-played melodeon tunes. The second part is pronounced mə-LOH-jin. |
| caul, coul | cold | adjective | Pronounced kowl. From Scots cauld meaning "cold". |
| carlin' | old woman | noun | From Norse kerling meaning "woman" (especially an old woman). |
| carnaptious | quarrelsome/irritable | adjective | From Scots. |
| claggerd | covered with something adhesive (usually dirt) | adjective | From Scots claggert meaning "besmeared". |
| cowp | to tip over/to fall over | verb | From Scots. |
| crack, craic | banter/fun/gossip/news (e.g. "What's the crack?) |
noun | From Scots or Northern English. Originally spelt crack but the Gaelicized spelling craic is now common. |
| craitur, craytur | a term of endearment (e.g. "The poor craitur") |
noun | From the Hiberno-English pronunciation of creature where ea is realised /e/ (see above) and -ture as archaic /tər/ rather than the standard affricate /tʃər/. |
| culchie | farmer/rural dweller | noun | Origin uncertain—either from Irish coillte meaning "woods"; from Irish cúl a' tí meaning "back of the house" (for it was common practise for country people to go in the back door of the house they were visiting); or from the -culture in "agriculture". |
| dander | walk | noun/verb | From Scots or Northern English. |
| dead-on | okay/no problem | interjection adjective |
Origin uncertain. |
| drawk, drawky |
to soak/drench, wet/showery |
verb adjective |
From Irish droch-aimsir meaning "bad weather" or "wet weather" or the less likely Scots draik/drawk. |
| eejit | idiot | noun | From the Hiberno-English pronunciation of idiot. |
| feck | a mild form of fuck | interjection | Gained popularity following its frequent use in the 1990s comedy TV series Father Ted. |
| feg | cigarette | noun | Pronounced fayg. From the English slang term fag. |
| fella | man | noun | From English fellow; ultimately from Norse felagi. |
| footer, futer |
fidget/waste time | verb | Via Scots fouter from Old French foutre.Perhaps from Irish fútar. |
| fornenst | in front of/facing | adverb | From Scots or Northern English. |
| founder, founderd |
cold, to be cold |
noun adjective |
From Scots foundert/foondert/fundert which can mean "(to be) chilled". |
| geg, geggin' | joke, joking | noun/verb | From English gag. |
| glen | valley | noun | From Irish gleann. |
| gob, gub | mouth | noun | From Irish gob, which can mean "mouth". |
| gutties, guddies | running shoes | noun | From Scots, in which it is used to mean anything made of rubber. Note also the phrase "Give her the guttie" meaning "Step on it (accelerate)". |
| hallion | a good-for-nothing | noun | From Scots hallion meaning "rascal". |
| hesp | a scolding old woman | noun | Perhaps from Irish easpan. Cf. Scots hesper: a hard thing to do; a difficult person to get on with. |
| hoak, hoke | to search for/to forage (e.g. "Have a hoak for it") |
verb | From Scots howk. |
| hooley | party | noun | Origin unknown; perhaps a variant of Irish céilí. |
| houl | hold | verb | Pronounced howl. From Scots/Northern English. |
| jap | to splatter; to splash; (of a frying pan) emit tiny 'sparks' of hot fat | verb | From Scots jaup. |
| jouk, juke | to dodge/to go | verb | From Scots jouk meaning "to dodge". |
| keen, keenin', keenin' |
to lament/to wail, lamenting/wailing, shrill (in terms of sound) |
verb noun adjective |
From Irish caoin meaning "lament". Keening was a traditional practice done by woman at Irish funerals. |
| lock'a | an unspecified amount (e.g. "In a lock'a minutes") |
determiner | From Irish loca meaning "a pile of" or "a wad of", or simply an extended meaning of "lock" as in "a lock of hair". |
| loch, lough | lake/sea inlet | noun | Pronounced lokh. From Irish loch. |
| lug | ear | noun | From Norse. Originally used to mean "an appendage" (cf. Norwegian lugg meaning "a tuft of hair"). Used throughout Ireland. |
| malarky, malarkey | nonsense | noun | Probably from Irish. |
| munya | great/lovely/attractive | adjective | Origin unknown. |
| oxter | armpit/under-arm | noun | From Scots. Dutch oksel = armpit |
| poke | ice-cream | noun | From Scots poke meaning "bag" or "pouch". |
| potcheen | hooch/bootleg alcohol | noun | From Irish poitín. |
| quare, kwer | very/considerable (e.g. "A quare distance") |
adjective adverb |
A different pronunciation and extended meaning of "queer". Used throughout Ireland. |
| scrab, scrawb |
scratch/scrape | noun/verb | From Irish scráib. Cf. Northern English scrab and Dutch schrabben (to scrape). |
| scunner/scunder, scunnerd/scunderd |
to annoy/embarrass, annoyed/embarrassed |
verb adjective |
From Scots scunner/scunnert meaning "offended" or "fed up". |
| sheuch, sheugh |
a small shallow ditch (pronounced /ʃʌx/) |
noun | From Scots sheuch. |
| skite, skitter, scoot |
to move quickly | verb | From Norse skjuta meaning "to shoot" (cf. Norwegian skutla meaning "to glide quickly"). |
| skite | to splatter with force | verb | From Norse skjuta. |
| slew | a great amount | noun | From Irish slua meaning "a crowd/multitude". |
| smidgen | a very small piece | noun | From Irish smidean. |
| snig | to snap-off/lop-off | verb | Origin unknown. Cf. Scots sneg < sneck. |
| stoor | dust | noun | From Old French estour. |
| tae | tea | noun | Pronounced tay, this is the Irish word for "tea". |
| til | to | preposition | From Norse til. |
| the-day, the-night, the-marra |
today, tonight, tomorrow |
noun/adverb | From Scots the day, the nicht, the morra. |
| thon | that | adjective | From Scots; originally yon in archaic English, the th by analogy with this and that. |
| thonder | there (something distant but within sight) | adjective | From Scots; originally yonder in archaic English. |
| throughother | untidy | adjective | Probably from Irish. However, it has parallels in both Goidelic (e.g. Irish trína chéile) and Germanic (e.g. Scots throuither, Dutch door elkaar, door-een, German durcheinander). |
| wee | little, but also used as a generic diminutive | adjective | From Middle English. Used throughout the north of Ireland and in Scotland. |
| weean, wean | child | noun | From Scots wee (small) + ane (one). |
| wheeker | excellent | adjective | From Scots wheech meaning "to snatch". Onomatopoeic. |
| wheen | a few/several | determiner | From Scots. Usually used in the phrase "a wheen of..." |
| whisht | be quiet (a command) | interjection | The Irish huist, meaning "be quiet", is an unlikely source since the word is known throughout England and Scotland where it derives from early Middle English whist (cf. Middle English hust and Scots wheesht). |
| wojus | awful | adjective | Probably a variation of odious. Used throughout Ireland. |
| ye | you (singular) | pronoun | From Middle English ye, but pronounced with a short e sound. |
| yous, yousuns | you (plural) | pronoun | See grammar derived from Irish. |
Furthermore, speakers of the dialect conjugate many verbs according to how they are formed in the most vernacular forms of Ulster Scots, e.g. driv instead of drove and driven as the past tense of drive, etc. (literary Scots drave, driven). Verbal syncretism is extremely widespread, as is the Northern subject rule.
Read more about this topic: Mid Ulster English
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