English As We Speak It in Ireland Part 37

Fooster; hurry, flurry, fl.u.s.ter, great fuss. Irish _fustar_, same sound and meaning. (Hayden and Hartog.)

'Then Tommy jumped about elate, Tremendous was his _fooster_--O; Says he, "I'll send a message straight To my darling Mr. Brewster--O!"'

(Repeal Song of 1843.)

Forbye; besides. (Ulster.)

For good; finally, for ever: 'he left home for good.'

Fornent, fornenst, forenenst; opposite: he and I sat fornenst each other in the carriage.

'Yet here you strut in open day Fornenst my house so freely--O.'

(Repeal Song of 1843.)

An old English word, now obsolete in England, but very common in Ireland.

Foshla; a marshy weedy rushy place; commonly applied to the ground left after a cut-away bog. (Roscommon.)

Four bones; 'Your own four bones,' 127.

Fox; (verb) to pretend, to feign, to sham: 'he's not sick at all, he's only foxing.' Also to cut short the ears of a dog.

Frainey; a small puny child:--'Here, eat this bit, you little _frainey_.'

Fraughans; whortleberries. Irish _fraoch_, with the diminutive. See Hurt.

Freet; a sort of superst.i.tion or superst.i.tious rite. (Ulster.)

Fresh and Fresh:--'I wish you to send me the b.u.t.ter every morning: I like to have it fresh and fresh.' {259} This is English gone out of fas.h.i.+on: I remember seeing it in Pope's preface to 'The Dunciad.'

Frog's jelly; the transparent jelly-like substance found in pools and ditches formed by frogs round their young tadpoles, 121.

Fum; soft spongy turf. (Ulster.) Called _soosaun_ in Munster.

Gaatch [_aa_ long as in _car_], an affected gesture or movement of limbs body or face: _gaatches_; a.s.suming fantastic ridiculous att.i.tudes. (South.)

Gad; a withe: 'as tough as a gad.' (Irish _gad_, 60.)

Gadderman; a boy who puts on the airs of a man; a mannikin or _manneen_, which see. (Simmons: Armagh.)

Gaffer; an old English word, but with a peculiar application in Ireland, where it means a boy, a young chap. 'Come here, gaffer, and help me.'

Gag; a conceited foppish young fellow, who tries to figure as a swell.

Gah'ela or gaherla; a little girl. (Kane: Ulster.) Same as _girsha_.

Gaileen; a little bundle of rushes placed under the arms of a beginner learning to swim. (Joyce: Limerick.) When you support the beginner's head keeping it above water with your hands while he is learning the strokes: that we used to designate '_giving a gaileen_.'

Galbally, Co. Limerick, 156.

Galoot: a clownish fellow.

Galore; plenty, plentiful. Irish adverb _go leor_, 4.

Gankinna; a fairy, a leprachaun. (Morris: South Mon.) Irish _gann_, small. {260}

Gannoge; an undefined small quant.i.ty. (Antrim.) Irish _gann_, small, with diminutive _og_.

Garden, in the South, is always applied to a field of growing potatoes.

'In the land courts we never asked "How many acres of potatoes?"; but "How many acres of garden?"' (Healy.) A usual inquiry is 'How are your gardens going on?' meaning 'How are your potato crops doing?'

Garlacom; a lingering disease in cows believed to be caused by eating a sort of herb. (P. Moran: Meath.)

Garland Sunday; the first Sunday in August (sometimes called Garlick Sunday.)

Garron, garraun; an old worn-out horse. (Irish _gearran_.)

Gash; a flourish of the pen in writing so as to form an ornamental curve, usually at the end. (Limerick.)

Gatha; an effeminate fellow who concerns himself in women's business: a _Sheela_. (Joyce: Limerick.)

Gatherie; a splinter of bog-deal used as a torch. (Moran: Carlow.) Also a small cake (commonly smeared with treacle) sold in the street on market days. Irish _geataire_ [gatthera], same meanings.

Gaug; a sore crack in the heel of a person who goes barefooted. (Moran: Carlow.) Irish _gag_ [gaug], a cleft, a crack.

Gaulsh; to loll. (MacCall: Wexford.)

Gaunt or gant; to yawn. (Ulster.)

Gaurlagh; a little child, a baby: an unfledged bird. Irish _garlach_, same sound and meanings.

Gawk; a tall awkward fellow. (South.) {261}

Gawm, gawmoge; a soft foolish fellow. (South.) Irish _gam_, same meaning. See Gommul.

Gazebo; a tall building; any tall object; a tall awkward person.

Gazen, gazened; applied to a wooden vessel of any kind when the joints open by heat or drought so that it leaks. (Ulster.)

Gallagh-gunley; the harvest moon. (Ulster.) _Gallagh_ gives the sound of Irish _gealach_, the moon, meaning whitish, from _geal_, white.

Geck; to mock, to jeer, to laugh at. (Derry.)

Geenagh, geenthagh; hungry, greedy, covetous. (Derry.) Irish _gionach_ or _giontach_, gluttonous.