Canada-Ulsterheritage Site.
Poshspeak
A Scots Toast!!
An introduction to ------ Ulsterspeak
(a derivitive of Ulster/Scots)
 

    This page is designed to help the ill-informed, the un-initiated or those who are just plain interested in the language. It is unique and can be found in all english speaking countries today from Australia to Zimbabwe!
    Some of these expressions may be obsolete or used only by a small proportion of the population of Northern Ireland today, but they have been included, because in some parts of rural Ontario, these expressions are a part of  life!
    (Read on McDuff and when yer teeth begin tae watter,  keep on reedin.)
Glossary:Ulsterspeak
[ A- E] [F-J] [K-O] [P-Q] [R-S] [T-U] [V-Z]
ards Newtownards a'wheenmoar a few more
am fer aff I am going now. beeky'n skipping class or meeting
belshaft City of Belfast a beeky a coal fire
boutye? How are you? bellymenaa Town of Ballymena
bare achews pair of shoes. bias a bun ma Buy me a bun,mother!
brorr brother bertie greetins birthday greetings
brill brilliant buck edjitt complete idiot
bake/gub mouth beelin ooze/seep/ infected
blute'rd tired / very drunk ca'meerawantye come here,I want you.
cryin buckets weeping bitterly coul / (kowl) cold
cloddin throwing crigged metoe stubbed my toe
catchyerselon have some sense da / farr father
dig in tha gub hit on the mouth deadly craak great fun
daymare daily mirror darry City of Londonderry
dander roving walk duncher peaked cap
edjitt idiot fag cigarette
fash'n chaps fish and chips (Ballymena) fry fried breakfast
footer fiddle / fidget fortnight two weeks
gipe unpleasant person geg fun / laugh
gulder yell / shout gaze give me
glunterpake stupid person houl on please wait
hobnails work boots howlt held
ha'nae have none jinkers / jeepers exclamation !!
intill into lug ear
kowpe over-turn loanin narrow lane
luck at'ye look at you larn learn / town of Larne
larnin education let-on pretend
mitch skip, do not attend 
midge gnat / small fly morr / ma mother
mon'me'oan I am alone mutton dummies gym shoes / trainers
nuts corner int'l airport (NI) norn iron Northern Ireland
norland Northern Ireland norfi resident of NI
newfie resident of Newfoundland naw no
oul han old chap oxters armpits
pechlin shuffling / limping the port Portstewart/Portrush
pachle muddle/fiddle/or mess pewtrid vile / off
pixtures movies / cinema quare crack good fun
qwet quit / stop scunnered disgusted / disliked
slabber obnoxious person sheugh  drainage ditch
sony a'shire only a  shower spoarin raining
sax sacks / bags stickin out really good
spittin light rainfall tally Belfast Telegraph
tatey bread potato bread twalfh Twelth of July
trainers gym shoes trekter deckter tractor mechanic
gutties cheap gym shoes wurkin hard? hardly working!
The question often arises as to whether it is country or town folk who make the biggest contribution to the colourful speech of Ulsterspeak.
    In Ulster, it would be a rural victory!
It would be at a country cross-roads, not a street corner, where one would be most likely to hear, (upon the approach of one of the more venerable farming residents),
''Here's oul Harry pechlin' along , sure there's more life in'is walkin stick than there is'n him!''
    If ' Bellymeena' is not quite spelled like that on the map, EVERY Ulster man or woman is familiar with the town and it's people. It is fundamental to Ulster folklore. If it had not come into existance because of the number of Scots who settled in the area, it would have had to be invented!!
A language cult of its own has been produced because of the insistance of the inhabitants in using an 'e' where most people use an 'a' sound.

To stress that they are realists, Ballymena people will tell you they are
    'only interested in fex(facts)'.

Of a weakling it will be said,
    'He lex stamina.'

A shopkeeper will not ask a customer to repeat herself if she asks for
    'a pecket of clothes pex please'.

On Budget Day, the question on everyone's lips will invariably be ,
    'What's he goin till tex nex?'

A family in trouble will have their
    'bex to the wall!'

Rural Ballymena will say 'fernainst the bire' and rural Ontario will say 'fernainst tha bern' and what does it  mean? (against or beside the cow shed!)

So, it all comes down to:
    You can tell a Ballymena man anywhere---- but you can't tell him much!!

What you won't find in the history books:::::: How Canada got it's name!
 
When the Mayflower was nearing the end of it's historical voyage. 
  Among the passengers there was a family from Belfast, who wanted to start a new life in the America's.
There was Father & Mother,  Daughter  and son Johnny.
The father was a strict man and insisted his children behaved in their Belfast upbringing
After many months at sea and having been blown off course, probably many times, assuming they knew where they were going!, Johnny was just dreaming about getting onto dry land and running wild.

 

Scots Toast!!

"May tha bist yi've iverr seen 
Be the wirrst ye'll iverr see;
May the mousse na'er leave ye girnal
Wi' a teer drap in its e'e;                                May ye'rr lum keep blithely reekin'                    Til ye're auld enough tae dee;                               May ye aye be jist as happy                                As I wish ye nou tae be!"
augh aye !
fabco98                   [ Search ] [Top] [ C.U.H.S ].........    Ulster faraver!