The Irish Language

Part of the reason I decided to go to Ireland was the fact that there's no language barrier. Little did I know how different their way of speaking is. Here are a few "Irish-isms":

Lashing -- Heavily raining. "It's lashing outside, I should have brought an umbrella."
Beour -- Girl friends. "I'm having a night out with my beours!"
Shift -- Make out. "Did you see them shifting on the dance floor?"
Craic (pronounced crack) -- Fun. "I went to the club last night, it was massive craic."
Off License -- A liquor store. "Let's go to the off license to get some beer."

The Irish also have a very colorful language. AKA they all have sailor mouths. But they also curse in different ways... 'Shyt' is the friendly version of shit. And 'feck' is the friendly way to say f*ck. However, my music teacher told my class that he'd rather say 'f*ck' instead of 'improvisation'. During orientation he also told us he hopes his class comes to the 9 a.m. lecture as hungover as he will be most of the time... If only teachers in the states were that forgiving!

My classes have been pretty good but the Irish teachers are sometimes hard to understand. I've come to realize it's because of their lack of diction. I am slowly picking up on what makes an Irish accent so I'm hoping by the end of the semester I'll be able to imitate it. "Are ye going to da cinema to see a fil-um?"

I tried to teach an Irish boy how to say the word 'Thursday' the other night because he was making fun of my accent - um, excuse me... I don't have an accent - little did I know how difficult it would be...
"TH-URS-day" - me
"Turrrrsday"- him
"No, Tthh."- me
"Thursthhday"-him
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, THurssssday"-me
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Tursday"- him
"THURSday"- me
"Monday, THusthday, Wednesthday, Thursthday.... I sound like I have a lisp."-him
After trying for a sold 15 minutes, he still didn't get it.