One of the things that has always interested me most about traveling is the use of slang other cultures have in comparison to my own. Inevitably, slang also leads to some big errors in communication, so I thought it would be useful to have a short list of slang definitions to give you an idea of the differences that exist. This will hopefully give you an idea of what I’m on about half the time!

Banger: An awesome song or, alternatively, an awful car.

“Turn it up! This song’s a banger!” / “Who owns that banger in the driveway?”

Craic: I have the most trouble with this word. ‘Craic’ in Ireland basically means ‘fun times and good conversation.’ I had no idea that going to a party and asking, “Any craic then?” would be such a shocking thing to ask, nor did I realize how hard ‘craic’ is to explain to a non-Irish person.

“What’s the craic?” basically just means “What’s up?”

Cheek/Cheeky: ‘Sassy,’ As in “I’ve had enough of your cheek,” or, “What you said to that Priest was awful cheeky.”

Can also be used to indicate doing things on the sly, i.e., “I wouldn’t mind getting a cheeky burrito right about now.”

Culchie: Someone from the countryside.

Fit: Attractive.

Jammy: When somebody is incredibly lucky in a way that is undeserved.

“That pool shot was just jammy.”

Lethal: Awesome.

“On the lash”: Getting very drunk.

Off license: Liquor Store.

Yous: Irish version of “y’all”. (I’m fully aware of how awful and grammatically incorrect this word sounds)

“What are yous doing tonight?”

Some of the slang terms that I’ve picked up while living in America and what I’ve gathered as their meaning:

Hella: A way that Californians like to say ‘very.’ But all I’m still hearing is ‘hell of.’ As in “this food is hell of good,” “it’s hell of warm out here,” “last night was hell of crazy,” etc. which just sounds broken and wrong.

Ratchet: Good? Bad? I’m not actually sure. I’ve only heard girls say it and can’t for the life of me tell when it’s being used seriously or ironically. Ratchet remains an enigma.

Swag: A term that indicates confidence and style. I’ve mainly seen it printed on plain black Nike T-shirts. To me, nothing says ‘confidence’ like wearing a shirt that explicitly states you have it.

Turnip: When Americans are at parties and want to boost morale, sometimes they shout “TURNIP!”

So awesome to see people get so excited about their vegetables!