{"id":887705,"date":"2026-04-11T22:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/887705\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T22:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:10:42","slug":"insults-that-only-make-sense-if-you-grew-up-in-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/887705\/","title":{"rendered":"Insults that only make sense if you grew up in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here in Northern Ireland<\/a>, we have our own spake.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This means that we linguistically overlap with the Republic of Ireland<\/a>, England and Scotland. But there’s also words and phrases completely unique to us that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Read more: From Barry’s to Polly Pineapples: the Northern Irish summers of our childhood<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

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<\/a> or just some well-meaning slagging, our insults are something else altogether.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Feardie<\/p>\n

Coward or scaredy-cat.
“Don’t be such a feardie, ye big girl’s blouse.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A group of young boys make a climbing frame out of a burnt-out vehicle in Belfast, February 1971. -Credit:Bettmann<\/p>\n

Scobe<\/p>\n

Scrounger.
\u201cHe\u2019s an awful scobe him, always spongin\u2019 off his poor ma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gulpin<\/p>\n

Clueless or oblivious fool.
\u201cAch sure that gulpin hasn\u2019t a gleed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clart<\/p>\n

Dirty person.
\u201cAway wi\u2019 ye, ye clart, the dead lice are fallin\u2019 off ye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moke\/spide\/steek<\/p>\n

Stereotypical terms for a loutish, tracksuit-wearing, working-class lad.
\u201cSome wee spide stroked his phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milly\/millie\/milliard\/millbag<\/p>\n

Stereotypical terms for a loutish, tracksuit-wearing, working-class girl. Originates from the phrase \u2018mill girls\u2019, which described the young women working in Northern Ireland\u2019s linen mills in past decades.
\u201cSee thon millie over there\u2026 she\u2019d scrab the face off ye, so she would.\u201d<\/p>\n

(A face) like a well-chewed chop\/a fur hatchet\/a melted welly\/that only a mother could love<\/p>\n

Visibly unattractive.<\/p>\n

Could eat an apple through a tennis racket<\/p>\n

Someone who has buck teeth.
\u201cThon lad has a face only a mother could love. He could eat an apple through a tennis racket, the poor craithur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Families<\/p>\n

Families chatting on a residential street in Belfast, August 1970. -Credit:Mirrorpix<\/p>\n

Hallion<\/p>\n

Good-for-nothing or wild one\/rascal (can be derogatory or affectionate).
\u201cShe\u2019d wanna keep a better eye on them wee hallions she\u2019s rearin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crabbit\/crabbed<\/p>\n

Cranky, bitter, bad-tempered.<\/p>\n

Targe<\/p>\n

Battleaxe.
\u201cThe bake on that crabbit aul’ targe would turn milk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away in the head<\/p>\n

Mad, irrational or a poor decision-maker.
\u201cShe\u2019s still with him?! Ach she\u2019s away in the head, would ye be well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away with the fairies<\/p>\n

Ditzy, aloof, out-there.
\u201cThere\u2019s a wee want in him, he\u2019s away wi\u2019 the fairies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aye yer ma\/aye yer da<\/p>\n

A classic primary school comeback to rival any insult hurled your way.
\u201cYer gutties are scrappers.\u201d \u201cAye yer ma.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A group of young boys laughing as they play in Belfast, March 1971. -Credit:Mirrorpix<\/p>\n

Head like a Cassidy skip<\/p>\n

Lurgan<\/a> way of saying big-headed, after the skips company based in the town.
\u201cThat tovie git has a head on him like a Cassidy skip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sleekit<\/p>\n

Untrustworthy, sly, sneaky.
\u201cWatch yourself around thon one, she\u2019s a sleekit wee skitter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ill-bred\/ill-reared<\/p>\n

Rude, uncouth.
“He\u2019s an ill-bred blirt, so he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty faces<\/p>\n

When someone is more than just two-faced and highly prone to gossiping.
\u201cThon one\u2019s got forty faces, she spends half the time gebbin\u2019 in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teeth like a Donegal graveyard\/a burnt fence<\/p>\n

Teeth that are either crooked and overcrowded or in bad condition.
\u201cState a\u2019 yer bake, you\u2019ve teeth like a Donegal graveyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

As tight as a duck\u2019s a**e<\/p>\n

Cheap\/mean with money.
“That glipe\u2019s as tight as a duck\u2019s a**e, he wouldn\u2019t spend Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

What other insults did you hear whilst growing up in Northern Ireland? Let us know in the comments below.<\/b><\/p>\n

READ NEXT:<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here in Northern Ireland, we have our own spake. English is the primary language spoken here. Yet our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,1144,13136,16,213072,15],"class_list":["post-887705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-belfast","tag-northern-ireland","tag-republic-of-ireland","tag-uk","tag-ulster-scots","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116388366278452964","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}