nappy bank

Today, she shows me into the unused disabled toilet, a makeshift home for the “nappy bank” they are now operating. People who can’t afford to buy a pack of nappies can come here and buy a handful to get them to the end of the week.

2013 March 19, Jackie Long, “Easterhouse: harsh reality behind benefits 'revolution'”, in Channel4:

Within a few days, she said, Mowbray had arranged to have over 265,000 nappies from Kiwi brand Rascal & Friends, which Zuru distributes internationally, sent to nappy banks and hospitals in New York and Texas.

2020 November 19, Emily Brookes, “Blake Lively reveals 'heroic' efforts by Zuru's Nick Mowbray: 'I felt incredibly grateful'”, in Stuff:

Naturally, some have taken to the phone-in shows to complain about the volume of media attention lavished on this trivia, decrying such warped priorities when food banks are joined by warm banks, bedding banks and nappy banks, and when homeless people shiver on the streets.

2022 December 16, Jonathan Freedland, “Harry and Meghan are still giving Britons what they really want from royalty: cruel spectacle”, in The Guardian:

(Commonwealth, Ireland, uncommon) Synonym of diaper bank (“a charitable institution that distributes diapers to those without monetary or convenient access to it”).


dodie

"Don't you have a dodie for her?” "Dodie?" "Ah..." Blaine hesitated. "Pacifier." "Oh! It's one of those things I haven't gotten yet. She doesn't seem to look for one."

2018 May 1, Rachel Lee, A Bachelor, a Boss and a Baby, Harlequin, →ISBN:

"Dodie trees" are not often associated with holy wells; in fact, the young child finishing with nursing or teething can be asked to give the dodie (teether or pacifier) to the fairies by letting family members hang it on a tree.

2023, Celeste Ray, Finbar McCormick, Holy Wells of Ireland: Sacred Realms and Popular Domains, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 25:


swim nappy

(Commonwealth, Ireland) Synonym of swim diaper.


snack box

(Ireland) A meal of fried chicken and chips served in a box.


public licence

UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore standard spelling of public license.


me daza

mi daza (alternative)
me dazza (alternative)

“You'll be treated terribly when I go,” she said.
“Oh, I’m jake. I’m me daza. Don’t think of me. But what about you? My poor girleen, what'll you do?”

1936, Seán Ó Faoláin, “Part II The Jungle; Chapter 3”, in Bird Alone, New York: Viking, page 116:

MULTO CHIC! That is what lovely Italian film stars, Sylva Koschina and Luisa Della Noce said about the traditional hooded cloak of West Cork.
They're me daza! That is what the Lee-siders said about the stars.
Both phrases mean the same thing, for the Italian girls and the Cork people fell for each other in a big way at the film festival last week.

1956 June 2, “MULTO CHIC! The girls too!”, in Pictorial, volume 32, number 4309, Dublin: The Irish Times, page 1:

‘Danno, I certainly appreciate the excellent cuisine of your good woman.’
‘Yeah, it’s me daza! Ye can’t beat a good tightener in the middle of the day [.]’

1966, Seamus Murphy, “Chapter 3”, in Stone Mad, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, page 14:

Saturday afternoon and I'm drinking with the guys thinking of the day's results and your lovely eyes
...
2 pints of rasa, I think you're me daza

1993, Niall O'Flaherty, Pat O'Connell, “2 Pints of Rasa”, in Casual Sex in the Cineplex, performed by Sultans of Ping FC, Rhythm King:

Clonakilty Blackpudding! 'tis me daza, full of pep!
To put the lead back in your pencil and the spring back in your step

1998, Jimmy Crowley, “Clonakilty Blackpudding”, in Uncorked!, Greentrax, CDTRAX 165:

‘These clippers are me daza,’ said Dermot admiringly. ‘I’ll have to buy some meself.’

2015, Graham Masterton, “Chapter Nineteen”, in Blood Sisters, London: Head of Zeus, →ISBN, page 151:

(Ireland, Cork, slang) (usually predicative) excellent, great, very nice, fine


Green Linnets

(Ireland, historical) A regiment raised in Poolbeg, Dublin which embarked in 1781 to Jamaica to serve in the American Revolutionary War.


griffaun

(obsolete, Ireland) A kind of spade, shovel, or hoe.


furligig

(Ireland) Alternative form of whirligig.


furrum

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(Ireland, dialectal) Pronunciation spelling of form (“bench”).


randyvoo

Borrowed from French rendez-vous. Cognate with Yola randyboo.

(Ireland) A house where the neighbours gather for a chat.


three-in-one

(Ireland) A fast food dish consisting of chips, boiled rice (or egg-fried rice) and curry sauce, served in a single container.


nappy liner

From nappy (“an absorbent garment worn by a baby or young child who is unpotty-trained or by someone who is incontinent; a diaper”) + liner (“a removable cover or lining”).

compound

(Commonwealth, Ireland) Synonym of diaper liner.


Uel

(Ireland) A diminutive of the male given name Samuel.


cutaway bog

cutaway bogs (plural)
cutaway (alternative clipping)

Bord na Móna began to research the possible uses of cutaway bogs as long ago as the 1950s. However, despite many trials, the potential for growing biomass fuel, vegetables and other tillage crops has proved disappointing.

2002 July 10, “Cutaway bog promises new, wild landscapes”, in Irish Times, Ireland:

(Ireland) A peat bog from which most or all of the peat has been harvested.


louser

(Ireland, slang) A mean or contemptible person.


twattiness

More than any other musical genre, excepting possibly avant-garde field recordings of firearms, hip-hop lends itself well to expressing one's belief in the twattiness of others. Which is perhaps why the author, possessed by a desire to point fingers, name names, and speak out against arseholes, was drawn to the genre.

2000, “Judge Mental & The Heavy Dread Beat”, in Ed Pinsent, editor, The Sound Projector, number 8, London, →OCLC, page 153, column 2:

My attitude affects your reaction. Your reaction affects my attitude. This is the theory behind being able to talk someone down from heightened twattiness to calm compliance.

2010, Lance Manley, “Glossary”, in Stab Proof Scarecrows, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 366:

‘[…] Since you can obviously stand outside yourself for long enough to consider how other people may see you. And your concern about dumping Larry in it also suggests that your level of twattiness could be much lower than you think.’ […] ‘Twattiness, hey?’ she said. ‘That’s pretty original. For a self-helpy rant.’

2014, Chrissie Keighery, chapter 4, in Love Is the New Black, Richmond, Vic.: Hardie Grant Egmont, →ISBN, page 43:

(vulgar, slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The quality of being like a twat.


nappy cream

en-noun

nappy cream (countable and uncountable, plural nappy creams)

(Commonwealth, Ireland) Synonym of barrier cream.


codlock

codlocks (plural)
codlick (alternative Northern-Ireland)

Of unknown origin. Possibly suffixed with Scots -lock, which forms diminutives. First attested in 1794.

Pholis gunnellus: The rock gunnel, a ray-finned fish found in coastal waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.


blandander

en-verb

blandander (third-person singular simple present blandanders, present participle blandandering, simple past and past participle blandandered)

blandanders (present singular third-person)
blandandering (participle present)
blandandered (participle past)
blandandered (past)

Probably an altered from of blandish, possibly blending with philander. Compare blarney.

'Norah dear,' says I, 'there's a regiment of Southerners at Mackenzie's farm in the wood. If you love Tom you'll run like the wind and bring them here as quick as the fine legs God gave you will carry you. I'll thry to blandander these fellows till you come back; but remember every minute's worth its weight in gold, and Tom's life hangs on a thread.'

1898 June 18, James Workman, “The Rebel Spy”, in Chambers's Journal, volume I (sixth series), number 24, London, Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, Limited, page 463, column 1:

But he blandandered me and, like a goat, / I paid the entry and he put me down.

1922 June 7, “The Foot of Friday”, in Punch, volume CLXII, London: Bradbury, Agnew & Co., Ltd., column 1:

That Last Infirmity, by Charles Brackett (John Day). Lightly and amiably satirical: a snob makes a Frankenstein's monster of a blandandering Irish widow.

1926 October 9, “Tell Me a Book to Read”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 87, column 2:

Och, Mrs. Flanagan this, or Mrs. Flanagan that, you can blandander me till you're blue in the face, but it's not meself I have in mind...it's Patsy.

1937, Bruno Frank, translated by James Bridie [pseudonym; Osborne Henry Mavor], Storm in a Teacup, London, New York, N.Y., Toronto, Ont.: Samuel French, translation of Sturm im Wasserglas, page 12:

"Ah! More like yourself! That's right. There's a drop yet, Gentle," Bark blandandered, holding up the dandy for the heel.

1947, Robert Briffault, New Life of Mr. Martin, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 32:


give it socks

give it socks (third-person singular simple present gives it socks, present participle giving it socks, simple past gave it socks, past participle given it socks)

gives it socks (present singular third-person)
giving it socks (participle present)
gave it socks (past)
given it socks (participle past)

It may have been a cliche entrance, but I gave it real socks!

2025 April 24, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy:


pianee

Here's fruit to feed our busy bee,
And flowers for her nose;
Here's music for her pianee,
An Afghan for her toes.

1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. Part 1 & 2, →ISBN:

Play us some pianee! [Homer plays "Für Elise"] That's piano! I said pianee! [Homer plays honky-tonk music]

2002, Brian Kelley, “The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms”, in Treehouse of Horror XIII (The Simpsons):

(Ireland, US, dialectal, dated) Pronunciation spelling of piano.


recco

en-noun

recco (countable and uncountable, plural reccos)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, military slang) Reconnaissance.


thrain

"[…] the two-o'clock thrain?" "Yes," was the sleepy reply from within."

... wud a hundred sogers to help him out in the job he had in hand. He landed afther a good voyage in the harbor of Cork, an' at wance he put matthers in thrain.

1904, Justin McCarthy, Maurice Francis Egan, Charles Welsh, Douglas Hyde, Lady Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche, Irish Literature: Daunt, page 912:

[…] Tunis an' Thripoli, figs from Turkey, […] transported outa the sun by bullock or mule, in thrain an' boat to the wind-swept streets o' Dublin;[…]

1956, Sean O'Casey, Mirror in My House: The Autobiographies of Sean O'Casey:

(dated) Pronunciation spelling of train, representing Ireland English.


caffle

en-verb

caffle (third-person singular simple present caffles, present participle caffling, simple past and past participle caffled)

caffles (present singular third-person)
caffling (participle present)
caffled (participle past)
caffled (past)

→ Welsh: cafflo (“to cheat”)

(dialectal, Northern England, Ireland) to wrangle, to argue

(dialectal, Northern England, Ireland) to wrangle, to entangle

(dialectal, Northern England, Ireland) to cheat


caffler

Oh, you dirty little caffler! "she said.

1951, Frank O'Connor, “First Confession”, in Traveller's Samples:

(Ireland, Cork) A rogue, a contemptible or impertinent person.


semesterisation

Extra-curricular activities in Galway have also taken a body blow with the recent introduction of a semesterisation system into the Arts faculty. This American-inspired structure means second and third year students sit exams shortly after Christmas and in May/June.

1988 August 29, Eilis Ward, “Changing times in the West”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 17 (Lifestyles Supplement: Going to College):

Semesterisation, for those unfamiliar with such matters, is the division of the academic year into two equal periods, called semesters. Semesterisation's "fellow-traveller" is modularisation, the division of a subject into components or modules. A certain number of modules are taken each semester and are examined at the end of the semester.

1997 March 18, John Connolly, “Colleges still trying to do things by halves”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 4 (Education & Living):

The move to semesterisation has the potential to allow faster degree routes for students. Three semesters can be fitted into one academic year and thereby facilitate two-year degree programmes.

2006, Dorothy Moss, Gender, Space and Time: Women and Higher Education, Lexington, →ISBN, page 158:

Semesterisation will result in a more even distribution of the student workload where exams will happen before Christmas and before the summer meaning that modules can be wholly taught and assessed in a single teaching period.

2014 June 13, “Semesterisation sees early start for UCC students”, in UCC News Archive^(https://www.ucc.ie/en/news/archive/2014andbeyond/2014-(jan-june)/semesterisation-sees-early-start-for-ucc-students.html), University College Cork:

(Ireland, UK, education) the division of the academic year into (typically two) semesters with exams after each, as opposed to (typically three) terms with exams only after the final term of the year


Sindo

(Ireland, slang) The Sunday Independent, an Irish newspaper.


laght

From Irish leacht (“grave, gravemound”).

(Ireland) A pile of stones, similar to a cairn, marking a grave.


Christmas come early

Referring to the imaginary situation of Christmas occurring before the usual date, and thus one enjoying the festivities and receiving Christmas presents early.

It is true, Ma? Is it true? A Thanksgiving basket? […] It's like Christmas come early! [She joins her sisters at the table. All three sisters sit, stare hungrily at the basket]

1982, Tim Kelly, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch: Or, A Page from the Book of Life […], Schulenburg, Tex.: I. E. Clark Publications, →ISBN, Act I, page 20:

It is Christmas come early, unfortunately for Members of Congress, unfortunately for those who are willing to sell out their vote for their districts, for something in their districts. It might be Christmas come early for those Members of Congress, but it is not Christmas for the American people.

1993 November 16, Sherrod Brown, “Opposition to NAFTA”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 103d Congress, First Session (United States House of Representatives), volume 139, part 10, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29312, column 3:

"If this gets any better," Sangster confessed, "I won't be able to stand it." October, so far, had been Christmas come early for the engineers.

1996, Ivan Doig, Bucking the Sun, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, published 2003, →ISBN, page 122:

Sultry songbird Deborah Cox says Christmas came early for her this year and all of her wishes have already come true. The talented songstress is riding the charts with her second hit album, One Wish with the smash ballad Nobody's Supposed To Be Here.

1998 December 28 – 1999 January 4, “Christmas Comes Early for Hit Singer Deborah Cox”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson, editor, Jet, volume 95, number 5, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 55:

Christmas come early, that sounds like to me.

2003, Ivan Doig, Prairie Nocturne, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 188:

So to be in Peter Jackson's house, just a couple of weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin, sharing dinner and conversation with Ian McKellen, well, that was like Christmas coming early for me.

2004, Sean Astin, with Joe Layden, chapter 9, in There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 169:

Christmas came early this year when our PX rations arrived in November. This is one day every soldier overseas looks forward to.

2007, Robert Lynch, “Italian Mountain Campaign”, in A Letter Marked Free: A Powerful and Gripping Account of a Combat Soldier in WWII, Indianapolis, Ind.: Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 51:

Then he [Viserys I Targaryen] turns to Rhaenys, who, he reasonably argues, is the best authority on what her husband would want. And Christmas comes early for Rhaenyra, because not only has her dad come out to support her family, but her aunt also backs Luke [Lucerys Velaryon]'s claim—and accepts her niece’s offer of a Targaryen-Velaryon double wedding.

2022 October 10, Jenna Scherer, “House of the Dragon Drops Its Best Episode Yet”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2025-06-19:

(chiefly Ireland, UK, idiomatic) Something very delightful or fortunate is happening or has happened, especially earlier than expected.

joulu tuli etuajassa

something very delightful or fortunate is happening or has happened, especially earlier than expected

think all one's Christmases have come at once