Special Sub-Topic: Irish Idiomatic Expressions Click Here To Play: Irish Idiomatic Expressions

An easy one to start out with: If you hear an Irish person say "There was great craic (pronounced crack) last night", what do they mean?

I had a lot of fun last night. "Craic" is the Irish word for "fun". If you answered any of the others, chances are you'll be very dissappointed if you visit Ireland.

In particle physics, the little tiny things that make up protons, neutrons and electrons are called "quarks". In which book by Irish writer James Joyce does the word first appear? (In the original context, it has nothing to do with physics).

"Finnegan's Wake". The original phrase is "Three quarks for Muster Mark!" and as far as I know it doesn't actually mean anything at all. Caltech physicists Murray Gell-Mann and Richard Fenyman first gave the name to the sub-atomic particles in the 1960s.

Which of the following words were *not* introduced into the English language by the Irish?

doyle. Doyle is just a surname, and isn't used to mean anything else as far as I know. Boycott and Lynch are also surnames, but they happened to live during the era of land reform in Ireland. Captain Boycott was a landlord whose tenants decided to systematically ignore him: they refused to serve him in shops, wouldn't answer his questions and stopped working. The first person ever to be lynched by a lynch mob was a man named Lynch, and that's where the word comes from. "To smirt" is a very recent verb, which has come into use since smoking was banned in pubs here. Since the introduction of the ban, smokers have to congregate outside, and much flirting has ensued. So much, that we made a new word. It is set to spread as more countries introduce smoking bans in bars. Watch this space.

If you are having a party in Ireland, and you tell everyone to come at 8pm, what time do you expect them at?

Any time from 9pm onwards. This is a very peculiar Irish use of language, which many of my foreign friends have remarked on. You never, ever mean 8 when you say 8, and even when arranging to meet people for lunch, coffee, drinks etc., you're probably better off expecting people anything between 15 minutes and an hour later. I have a sneaking suspicion that around 90% of text messages sent in this country begin with "I'm running late ..." or "Where are you?"

What does "the divil a one" mean at all, at all?

none. This is a queer saying, and a wee bit auld-fashioned, but it can still be used by the young 'uns to confuse foreigners!

Which of the following does not mean "drunk"?

treed. Nearly any word can be made to mean what you want it to mean. It's all a question of emphasis. I had about fifty terms to choose from with this question, but I've never, ever heard anyone say that they'd been really "treed" last night.

Which of the following is not a (slightly derogotary) term to describe an Irish person from a particular part of the country?

Skanger. "Skangers" are generally to be found in Dublin, but not exclusively. In fact, they're not even exclusive to Ireland. A "Jackeen" is someone from Dublin, a "Culchie" is generally used by Dubliners to slag off their rusticated cousins, and a "Biffo" is any person from the midlands, but particularly from Offaly. It literally means a "Big Ignorant Fecker From Offaly"! I swear I didn't make these up!

This is an old Irish proverb. What does it mean? "If you lie down with dogs, you will rise up with fleas."

If you run around in bad company, you'll come to a bad end.. My dad says this. Yes, I'm serious!

Which of the following is *not* an Irish proverb?

Never ask a leprechaun to mend your thatch. If you didn't tick the leprachaun one, I'm deeply, deeply shamed. All of the others are true, I have heard them in use.

Here's a hard one to see what you've learned. Which of the following Irishisms is the closest in meaning to "eejit"?

fool. "Eejit" means "fool", so does "tool". A "langer" is a highly obnoxious person (the word is from Cork), a "blackguard" is a messer, and a "jackeen" is a word people from the country use to describe people from the city of Dublin. If anyone thinks I've been a bit hard on the Irish with all these references to drinking etc, then just keep in mind that I am Irish, and I live there, and it's all true!