Do you know your tackies from your gallybanders and your pokes from your Mickey Dazzlers? Around Ireland in 80 Words by Kunak McGann is a hilarious new collection of the most unusual local words and phrases from around Ireland that will have you away for slates. That’s a Cork saying for doing well or getting sorted, by the way.

Penned by the author of A Hundred Words for Grand and Everything is Mnasome, this book is a great pick me up as the winter nights draw in, showing how diverse and colourful our language is. Kunak has shared some of the best words and phrases with Irish Country Living.

1. Haboo

Meaning: forty winks

Nice and easy on the ear, ‘go haboo’ is a Waterford way of saying ‘go to sleep’ or ‘time for bed’. It’s thought that ‘haboo’ is similar to ‘hush-a-ba’ when lulling a baby to sleep. The modern use may come from a popular 18th century rhyme: ‘Haboo baby bunting, Daddy’s gone a-hunting, up the rocks to catch a fox, and wrap the little baby bunting in.’

Usage: ‘after the morning I’ve had, I’m dead on my feet. Time for a little haboo.’

2. Gallybander

Meaning: childhood weapon

A word peculiar to the people of Waterford and Tipperary, a ‘gallybander’ is a slingshot, usually a handmade one. Now used with much nostalgia, it conjures up images of wooden sticks and elastics – or even just a rubber band between the thumb and forefinger shooting folded paper across the classroom. The word may originate from the Irish word gabhlóg for a forked stick, or combining ‘band’ with an old word, ‘galluses’, for suspenders or braces.

Usage: ‘you’re after hitting me with your gallybander, ye bibe!’

3. Away for slates

Meaning: doing alright for yourself

A delightful little Cork phrase, ‘away for slates’ means doing well or being sorted – often by having enough money or getting that swanky promotion. It may well come from the idea of having a slate or a list of debts, like a tab, at your local. Without that, you’re comfortable and free from worry.

Usage: ‘after a slew of points early in the second half, the Rebels are away for slates now.’

4. Mor-e-ya

Meaning: as if

Hard to put a concrete meaning on, this word throws doubt or even downright derision on what’s just been said. Coming from the Irish mar dhea or ‘as it were’, combined with a particular tone it is the equivalent of ‘allegedly’ or ‘yeah, right’. It’s popular in Kerry but not limited to the Kingdom and features in writings by James Joyce (spelled ‘moya’) and Flann O’Brien (‘moryah’ or ‘muryaa’), no less.

Usage: ‘he says he’s not up to visiting his mammy, mor-e-yah. I bet he’ll be up to a few pints tonight.’

5. Aul’ stock

Meaning: old school

Heard in conversation across western and southern counties, this refers to a local character, often a hardier older person and a pillar of the community. No blow-ins here, ‘aul’ stock’ likely comes from a family that has lived there for generations. Generally acknowledged to be a good sort.

Usage: ‘you can tell she’s aul’ stock around here. Knows every single family in a 20-mile radius.’

6. Wahu

Meaning: hey

Pronounced ‘waw-hoo’, with a brisk pace and an emphasis on the first syllable, this expression means ‘Hi, how are ya?’ and is often paired with a nod or a head tilt. Popular amongst Mayo natives, particularly those from Ballina, it can also be used as an exclamation of joy or excitement, and it makes a nice hashtag on the socials for local businesses.

Usage: ‘wahu, lad. How’s the form?’

7. Lakes

Meaning: mad

Galway – and especially Tuam – slang, ‘lakes’ describes a situation as wild or a person as anything from slightly eccentric to completely unhinged. You can ‘be lakes’ or ‘go lakes’. And just plain ‘lakes’ or the worst-case scenario, ‘stone lakes’. May come from the early 1900s Cockney rhyming slang ‘Lakes of Killarney’, to mean barmy.

Usage: ‘we only went and won the Lotto. I’m goin’ lakes, like!’

8. Scundered

Meaning: mortified

This word brings with it a lively debate about whether Ulster folk use ‘scundered’ and ‘scunnered’ interchangeably. In Belfast and surrounds, ‘scundered’ means embarrassed. In other parts, ‘scunnered’ can mean the same, or to be fed up or disgusted – coming from the Old Scots word skunnyr, meaning to flinch or shudder.

Usage: ‘I only meant to message her, not the whole group chat. I was pure scundered.’

9. Wee buns

Meaning: easy peasy

A sweet little phrase, this is the Northern Irish equivalent of ‘a piece of cake’ or ‘easy as pie’. It presumably comes from the simplicity of baking fairy cakes (or wee buns) rather than more elaborate patisserie.

Usage: ‘I was up to high doh about that test, but in the end it was wee buns, so it was.’

10. Rulya:

Meaning -wild

Sometimes spelled ‘roolya’, this is a popular one around Armagh, Antrim and Monaghan. Coming from the Irish ruaille buaille or uproar, it can be used as either a noun, to mean a commotion, or an adjective, to mean crazy or fun.

Usage: ‘ye should have seen the lads last night. They were going pure rulya.’

This is an extract from Around Ireland in 80 Words by Kunak McGann, published by O’Brien Press, €9.99. In bookshops on 5 October. Available now to pre-order.