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the irish for

13 excellent ways to insult someone as Gaeilge

Is smuigín thú! (You’re a snot-nosed brat. Yeah you.)

AS WELL AS being awash with interesting words that have no equivalent in English, the Irish language has a heap of very specific ways to insult someone.

With the help of The Irish For, we’ve found a few for you to enjoy.

1. Maolán

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A dull-witted, stupid person – can also mean ‘bald’.

2. Smuigín

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A snot-nosed brat or impertinent fellow.

3. Scrathachán/scrathánach

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A big, lazy, slow-moving person (usually found walking ahead of you on the footpath. RAGE).

4. Cléir cháinte

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An evil-tongued person or persons. *eyes emoji*

5. Plucsheadáinín

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A greedy freeloader. The literal translation is ‘swollen-cheeked little parasite’. Burn.

6. Bogán

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A slithery, spineless individual. ‘Bógan’ is also the word for an egg without its shell.

7. Abhlóir

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A fool who complains constantly, and pretends to be intelligent. Wonderfully specific.

8. Brogús

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A person with no sense of humour, of which there are plenty.

9. Briogaid

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A touchy, irritable person who is easily offended.

10. Duarcán

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Someone who’s no fun, a wet blanket… A dryshite, essentially.

11. Bod

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The Irish word for penis… but it can also mean ‘tramp’ or ‘rude man’. Some things stay the same even in different languages.

12. Sacshrathair

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A stuffed sack, or a person with very little get up and go.

13. Trumpadóir

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A tiresome loudmouth. Hmm. Don’t know any of those.

Thanks again to Darach of @TheIrishFor for all his help! If you’re interested in more like this, go follow him.

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An official Gaeilge translation for ‘little person’ has been added thanks to campaigner Sinéad Burke>

‘Seán an tSneachta’: 12 excellent translations from Game of Thrones as Gaeilge>

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