Here in Northern Ireland, we have our own spake.
English is the primary language spoken here. Yet our day-to-day conversations are littered with a variety of other words and phrases that stem from the Irish language and Ulster Scots.
This means that we linguistically overlap with the Republic of Ireland, England and Scotland. But there’s also words and phrases completely unique to us that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else.
Read more: From Barry’s to Polly Pineapples: the Northern Irish summers of our childhood
Nothing shows the creativity of Northern Ireland spake quite like our insults. Be it the disparaging comments of a head-shaking mother, the slew of words hurled between fighting schoolkids or just some well-meaning slagging, our insults are something else altogether.
We put together a list of insulting nouns, adjectives and poetic comparisons that only really make sense to those who grew up in Northern Ireland. Some are more common to particular counties, cities and towns, but chances are you’ve heard a few eejits described by these over the years.
Feardie
Coward or scaredy-cat.
“Don’t be such a feardie, ye big girl’s blouse.”
A group of young boys make a climbing frame out of a burnt-out vehicle in Belfast, February 1971. -Credit:Bettmann
Scobe
Scrounger.
“He’s an awful scobe him, always spongin’ off his poor ma.”
Gulpin
Clueless or oblivious fool.
“Ach sure that gulpin hasn’t a gleed.”
Clart
Dirty person.
“Away wi’ ye, ye clart, the dead lice are fallin’ off ye.”
Moke/spide/steek
Stereotypical terms for a loutish, tracksuit-wearing, working-class lad.
“Some wee spide stroked his phone.”
Milly/millie/milliard/millbag
Stereotypical terms for a loutish, tracksuit-wearing, working-class girl. Originates from the phrase ‘mill girls’, which described the young women working in Northern Ireland’s linen mills in past decades.
“See thon millie over there… she’d scrab the face off ye, so she would.”
(A face) like a well-chewed chop/a fur hatchet/a melted welly/that only a mother could love
Visibly unattractive.
Could eat an apple through a tennis racket
Someone who has buck teeth.
“Thon lad has a face only a mother could love. He could eat an apple through a tennis racket, the poor craithur.”
Families chatting on a residential street in Belfast, August 1970. -Credit:Mirrorpix
Hallion
Good-for-nothing or wild one/rascal (can be derogatory or affectionate).
“She’d wanna keep a better eye on them wee hallions she’s rearin’.”
Crabbit/crabbed
Cranky, bitter, bad-tempered.
Targe
Battleaxe.
“The bake on that crabbit aul’ targe would turn milk.”
Away in the head
Mad, irrational or a poor decision-maker.
“She’s still with him?! Ach she’s away in the head, would ye be well.”
Away with the fairies
Ditzy, aloof, out-there.
“There’s a wee want in him, he’s away wi’ the fairies.”
Aye yer ma/aye yer da
A classic primary school comeback to rival any insult hurled your way.
“Yer gutties are scrappers.” “Aye yer ma.”
A group of young boys laughing as they play in Belfast, March 1971. -Credit:Mirrorpix
Head like a Cassidy skip
Lurgan way of saying big-headed, after the skips company based in the town.
“That tovie git has a head on him like a Cassidy skip.”
Sleekit
Untrustworthy, sly, sneaky.
“Watch yourself around thon one, she’s a sleekit wee skitter.”
Ill-bred/ill-reared
Rude, uncouth.
“He’s an ill-bred blirt, so he is.”
Forty faces
When someone is more than just two-faced and highly prone to gossiping.
“Thon one’s got forty faces, she spends half the time gebbin’ in the street.”
Teeth like a Donegal graveyard/a burnt fence
Teeth that are either crooked and overcrowded or in bad condition.
“State a’ yer bake, you’ve teeth like a Donegal graveyard.”
As tight as a duck’s a**e
Cheap/mean with money.
“That glipe’s as tight as a duck’s a**e, he wouldn’t spend Christmas.”
What other insults did you hear whilst growing up in Northern Ireland? Let us know in the comments below.
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