Belfast folk speak English but it’s a particular form of English, full of slang and sayings which I struggled to get to grips with when I first moved to the city. As much of my novel, ‘The Kirkwood Scott Chronicles: Skelly’s Square,’ is set on its streets, it’s only right that the story is liberally peppered with such colloquial gems. So, for those intending to read my little story, I thought it only fair I get you up to speed.
Over the next few days, therefore, we will be posting lines from the book to assist you in this process. Today’s offering comes from ‘Big Mark,’ the gentle giant of a doorman who oversees Kirkwood and his raucous friends, Gerry & Grogan, when they visit their favourite watering hole, ‘The Montreal.’ The book is available to buy now on Amazon in e book and paperback format. Just click the link below.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/KIRKWOOD-SCOTT-CHRONICLES-Skellys-Square-ebook/dp/B07V6HVLQV
Translation – These are not the most intelligent young men I’ve ever met.
Black Thoughts 
That reminds me of the expression: “If brains were ink, he (or she) wouldn’t have enough for a full stop!” 🙂
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Ha Ha. I’ll have to use that one 👍🏻
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Never heard that one. Give the translations coming.
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Will do 👍🏻
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Great saying! I think it would translate well into mid-Western United States English. 🙂
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Most definitely. Spread the word 😊
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Fun! Great idea. I usually look things up if I don’t understand, but now I can use them properly stateside. 👍As a first gen. American I’ve always enjoyed using the hilarious “Danglish” of my paternal grandparents.
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What’s been your favourite Northern Irish saying so far in the book? Also….hit me with some Danglish? Are you 1/2 Danish?
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Calling people muppets immediately cracks me up. I only wish i could spell the stuff my grandmother would say when she was angry…. Fargen uff da, ov mig idiot. Roughly FN F This and damn me idiot. My dad will do the same thing but more made up. I am Danish Norwegian Irish and Swedish. My dad and grandparents immigrated from Denmark in the late 50s.
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Gosh. That’s an eclectic mix. Thank you for the introduction to ‘Danglish.’
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It’s all a bunch of nonsense but fun to say.
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Ha ha
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Well, darn, can’t get it in the United States, so, I’ll just have to wait a bit.
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You can buy it in the USA. Many already have. You may have to try via a different link.
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No problems anticipated, here. By reading major newspapers online daily, I studied Hiberno-English and British usage for three years while I was writing Irish Firebrands, so I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on the lingo. If I do run across something unusual, sometimes I can find it in my Oxford English Dictionary (I’m not sure that the multitude of “slang dictionaries” that people post online are entirely accurate).
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Reminds me a little of the (what I can only assume is an American) saying: “You couldn’t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.” As in, you have no hope in whatever instrument you’re playing. While yours says these boys have no hope in the neuro Dept. 😉☺️
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Yes. We say ‘you couldn’t carry a note in a bucket’ 😂
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My grandfather (half-Scots) used to say, He couldn’t carry a tune in a basket.
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We have a saying here, “as sharp as a watermelon”
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Ha Ha. I like it 😊
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