How to speak Derry - an A-Z guide
A is for...
‘Aye’ - yes.
‘After ye’ - may I have a smoke of that cigarette once you’re finished.
B is for...
‘Blocked’ - intoxicated.
‘Bake’ - mouth - e.g. “shut yer bake” or “look at the bake on yer man”.
C is for...
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Hide Ad‘Catch yerself on’ - used by Derry people when they think someone is behaving inappropriately or have said something incredulous.
‘Craic’ - atmosphere, fun.
D is for...
‘Dab’ - a physical act, e.g. “he hit yer man a quare dab on the mouth”.
‘Dead on’ - I’m sorry but I don’t believe you.
E is for...
‘Essex’ - a former factory once situated near the New Road into Creggan.
‘Eejit’ - a foolish person.
F is for...
‘Frankie Ramsey’s’ - one of the cities most famous eateries, located on William Street.
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Hide Ad‘Fire’ - used to describe the act of throwing something - “he fired a stone at me”.
G is for...
‘Gack’ - a foolish person.
‘Gone’ - used to cajole, e.g. “gone go to the shop for me”.
H is for...
‘Happy days’ - fantastic.
‘Hoop’ - a person’s buttocks.
I is for...
‘In de’ - to look favourably upon something/someone - e.g. “He’s really in de you” - “He likes you”.
‘Is that you now?’ - used to ask if a person has finished what they are doing.
J is for...
‘Jammie’ - lucky.
‘JED’ - a humorous column that used to appear in The Derry Journal.
K is for...
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Hide Ad‘Kick’ - used to threaten someone with violence - “I’ll kick your head in”.
‘Kicks’ - as in ‘Teenage Kicks’ - a song written and performed by Derry punk rock band ‘The Undertones’.
L is for...
‘Lurred’ - pleased with one’s self - “I am all lurred”.
‘Lifted’ - arrested by the police - “did ye hear he got lifted last night”.
M is for...
‘Member’ - do you recall? - e,g, “do you member the time...?”
‘Mucker’ - a friend or pal.
N is for...
‘Naw’ - no.
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Hide Ad‘Nets’ - goalkeeping duties during a game of soccer - “hi, it’s your turn in nets”.
O is for...
‘Offie’ - Off-sales, a place that sells alcohol.
‘On yer bike’ - please leave.
P is for...
‘Poke’ - a whipped ice-cream.
‘Pure’ - unmistakable, pure - e.g. “that poke was pure lovely”.
Q is for...
‘Quare’ - scale of size - e.g. “yer man has a quare size a head on him”.
R is for...
‘Ragin.com’ - angry - e.g. “yer woman was ragin.com when the peelers lifted her”.
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Hide Ad‘Ripped’ - embarrassed, made a fool of - e.g. “Mickey ripped you there now when he said something about the size of yer head”.
S is for...
‘Saunter’ - please move along.
‘Steady’ - used to describe the status of a romantic relationship - e.g. “I’ve been goin steady for two years”.
‘Sausage roll bap’ - a sausage roll placed in a bap often with butter with red and/or brown sauce.
T is for...
‘Tellin’ - to make a third party aware of the misdemeanours of a certain person e.g. “I’m tellin me mammy on you”.
‘Tap’ - borrow - e.g. “could I tap ye for some money?”.
U is for...
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Hide Ad‘Up a tree in Rosemount’ - used to convey one’s lack of knowledge about a particular situation.
V is for...
‘Visitors’ - people who regularly call to your house, often uninvited.
W is for...
‘Wee’ - small e.g. “please enter your wee pin number” and “what’s your wee telephone number?”
X is for...
‘X-Works jeans’ - a popular fashion item worn in Derry in the 1990s.
Y is for...
‘Yip’ - yes.
‘Yousins’ - a group of people - e.g. “I am so lucky to have friends like yousins”.
Z is for...
‘Zip it’ - be quiet.