Greens Dictionary of Slang

Irish adj.
[the stereotypical Irishman or woman is stupid, short-tempered, violent (whether on the street
or in the home), addicted to potatoes, keen on brawling and usu. employed in a menial,
labouring task, often rural; all these traits are reflected in the combs. that follow, and all
combs. with Irish should be assumed to be derog. (if seen as joc. by the coiner/speaker)
unless otherwise stated]
1. [18C+] a general negative racial epithet; usu. in combs. below.
2. see Irish stew adj.

I. Pertaining to work
a. The wheelbarrow
In compounds
Irish ambulance (n.)
[1910s30s] (US) a wheelbarrow.
Irish baby buggy (n.)
[1910s+] (US) a wheelbarrow.
Irish buggy (n.) (also Irish buggie)
[late 19C+] (US) a wheelbarrow.
Irish chariot (n.)
[1940s] (US) a wheelbarrow.
Irish local (n.)
[1930s+] (US) a wheelbarrow [SAmE local, a local train line].

b. Tools for physical labour

Irish banjo (n.) (also Irish spoon)
[mid-19C+] a spade, a shovel.
Irish fan (n.)

[1920s+] (US) a spade, a shovel.

Irish local (n.)
[1900s] a hand-car, propelled by pushing a handle backwards and forwards.
Irish screwdriver (n.)
[20C+] a hammer.
Irish toothpick (n.)
[1920s] (US) a pickaxe.
Irish tumble-dryer (n.)
[1980s] a cement mixer.

II. Pertaining to fooda. The potato

Irish apple (n.)
[late 18C+] a potato.
Irish apricot (n.)
[late 18C+] a potato.
Irish football (n.)
[1970s] (US) a potato.
Irish fruit (n.) (also Irishmans fruit, Irish wall fruit)
[late 18C1910s] a potato.
Irish grape (n.)
[1940s70s] (US) a potato.
Irish lemon (n.) (US)
1. [late 19C+] a potato.
2. [1910s] an onion.
Irish root (n.)
[mid-19C] a potato.

b. Other foodstuffs
Irish cherry (n.)
[1930s+] (US) a carrot.
Irish cocktail (n.) [play on mickey finn n.]
[1980s] (US) a drink containing a substance that causes unconsciousness.
Irish goose (n.)
[mid-19C] (US) cooked codfish.
Irish horse (n.)
[mid-18C+] tough, undercooked salt beef.
Irish nachos (n.)
[1990s+] (US) fried potato wedges and (refried) beans.
Irish turkey (n.) [popularized by its use in the Jiggs and Maggie comic strip]
[mid-19C+] (US) corned (UK: salt) beef and cabbage.

III. Pertaining to sex

In compounds
Irish clubhouse (n.)
1. [1960s+] (US gay) a sophisticated, expensive brothel.
2. see also general compounds below.
Irish confetti (n.)
1. [1980s+] semen spilled outside the vagina (through coitus interruptus practised by pious
Catholics).
2. see also violence compounds below.
3. see also general compounds below.
Irish dip (n.)
[1960s+] (gay) sexual intercourse.

Irish disease (n.)

[1990s+] the state of having a small penis.
Irish fortune (n.)
[19C] the vagina.
Irish horse (n.)
[1950s+] (gay) an impotent penis.
Irish inch (n.) [a slur on Irish penis size]
[1970s80s] (US) the erect penis.
Irish marathon (n.)
[20C+] a lengthy session of sexual intercourse.
Irish potato (n.) [? play on spud n.3 /stud n.]
[1990s+] (W.I.) a young man who is kept by an older woman.
Irish promotion (n.)
[20C+] (gay) masturbation.
Irish rise (n.)
[late 19C+] sexual detumescence.
Irish root (n.)
[19C+] the penis.
Irish toothache (n.) (also i.t.a., Dutch salute)
1. [19C+] an erection.
2. [20C+] pregnancy.
Irish toothpick (n.)
[1980s+] (US gay) the erect penis.
Irish virgin (n.) [? pious Irish virgins who become nuns]
[20C+] (US) one who is a virgin and is likely to remain one.

Irish way (n.) [the belief that pious Catholics used anal intercourse as their sole means of
contraception]
[1970s+] heterosexual anal intercourse.
Irish wedding (n.)
[20C+] (gay) masturbation.
Irish whist (n.)
[19C] sexual intercourse.
In phrases
dance the Irish jig (v.)
see under dance v.
give a hot poultice for the Irish toothache (v.)
[late 19C] of a woman, to have sexual intercourse.
Irish by birth but Greek by injection [Greek adj. (2) + injection n.]
[1960s+] of a man, homosexual.
play (at) Irish whist (where the jack takes the ace) (v.)
[late 19C] to have sexual intercourse.

IV. Pertaining to lack of sophistication

Irish compliment (n.)
1. a blow.
2. [mid-19C+] a back-handed compliment.
Irish funnies (n.) (also Irish sports pages) [because of supposed Irish illiteracy]
[1970s+] the obituary columns in a newspaper.
Irish hint (n.)
[mid-18C+] (US) a very broad hint.
Irish promotion (n.)
[mid-19C+] a demotion, a cut in ones pay.

Irish rise (n.) (also Irish raise, Irishmans rise)

[mid-19C+] a cut in ones pay.
Irish shave (n.)
[1920s+] the act of defecation.
Irish sports pages (n.)
see Irish funnies
Irish wash (n.)
[1960s+] (US) the turning or reversing of a garment or other object to hide rather than
actually remove the dirt.

V. Pertaining to physique
In compounds
Irish arms (n.) (also Irish)
[mid-18Cmid-19C] thick legs.
Irish channel (n.) [down which alcohol flows]
[1900s] the throat.
Irish draperies (n.)
[1980s+] drooping female breasts.
Irish legs (n.)
[late 18C+] heavy female legs.
Irish stamps (n.)
[mid-19C] (UK Und.) thick, clumsy legs.

VI. Pertaining to violence

Irish beauty (n.)
[late 18C+] a woman with a pair of black eyes.
Irish bouquet (n.)

[1960s70s] (US) any form of projectile, usu. a stone or brick.

Irish coat of arms (n.)
see Irishmans coat of arms under Irishmans adj.
Irish confetti (n.) [from c.1832 until the adoption of asphalt, NY streets were paved with
bricks]
1. [20C+] (also confetti) bricks, esp. as thrown during riots; cite 1932 refers to a piece of
iron.
2. see also sex compounds above.
3. see also general compounds below.
Irish hoist (n.) [the stereotypically boorish, brawling Irishman]
[mid-19C+] a kick in the behind.
Irish invitation (n.)
[late 18C] a challenge to a duel.
Irish karate (n.)
[1990s+] (Aus.) the use of a shotgun.
Irish parliament (n.)
[1940s] a heated argument.
Irish rose (n.)
[1930s] (US) a stone, for throwing.
Irish wake (n.)
[mid-19C+] any boisterous occasion and not necessarily a wake.
Irish wedding (n.)
[late 18C19C] a brawl, where black eyes are given instead of favours (Grose 1796).

VII. General uses

In compounds

Irish assurance (n.) [like the Greek myth, which proclaims that being dipped in the River Styx
gives a child invulnerability, so it is said, that a dipping in the River Shannon totally
annihilates bashfulness (Grose 1785)]
[late 18C19C] boldness, shamelessness.
Irish bargain (n.)
any form of exchange where one side gains disproportionately more than the other; thus no
bargain .
Irish clubhouse (n.)
1. [20C+] (US) a police station [plays on SE club, association/club to hit, i.e. police violence].
2. see also sex compounds above.
Irish confetti (n.)
1. [1980s+] (N.Z.) gravel, stones.
2. see also sex compounds above.
3. see also violence compounds above.
Irish cry (n.)
insincerity, crocodile tears (cf. weep Irish v.).
Irish curtains (n.)
[1960s+] (Aus./US) cobwebs.
Irish draperies (n.)
[late 19C+] cobwebs.
Irish evidence (n.)
[18C19C] a perjuring witness; perjury.
Irish flag (n.)
[1960s] (US) a diaper, a nappy.
Irish lace (n.)
[1950s+] a spiders web.
Irish merino (n.)

[2000s] (N.Z.) a wild pig.

Irish necktie (n.)
[late 19C] (US) a rope.
Irish nightingale (n.)
[mid-19C1940s] (US) a bullfrog.
Irish pasture (n.)
[20C+] (US) a fainting fit, esp. a pretended one.
Irish rifle (n.)
[19C] a small toothcomb.
Irish shift (n.) (also Irish switch) [the supposed propensity of Irish politicians to blow with
the prevailing wind; given the year of first use 1960 the Irish in question may have been
the Kennedys, whose scion John was elected president that year]
[1960s+] (US) political hypocrisy.
Irish short cut (n.)
[2010s] a route that appears longer but is supposedly really quicker.
Irish twins (n.) [the stereotypical fecundity and lack of contraceptive practice of trad. Irish
families]
[1960s+] (US) two siblings born within a 12-month period.
Irish wedding (n.)
[19C] the emptying of a cesspool.

SE in general slang uses

In phrases
as Irish as Paddy Murphys pig (also as Irish as paddys pig)
[late 19C+] quintessentially Irish.

Digital edition Jonathon Green and Abecedary Limited, 2016.