English As We Speak It in Ireland Part 53

Swearing, 66.

Tally-iron or tallin-iron; the iron for _crimping_ or curling up the borders of women's caps. A corruption of _Italian-iron_.

Targe; a scolding woman, a _barge_. (Ulster.)

Tartles: ragged clothes; torn pieces of dress. (Ulster.)

Taste; a small bit or amount of anything:--'He has no taste of pride': 'Aren't you ashamed of yourself?' 'Not a taste': 'Could you give me the least taste in life of a bit of soap?'

Tat, tait; a tangled or matted wad or ma.s.s of hair on a girl or on an animal. 'Come here till I comb the _tats_ out of your hair. (Ulster.) Irish _tath_ [tah]. In the anglicised word the aspirated _t_ (th), which sounds like _h_ in Irish, is restored to its full sound in the process of anglicisation in accordance with a law which will be found explained in 'Irish Names of Places,' vol. i., pp. 42-48.

Teem; to strain off or pour off water or any liquid. To _teem_ potatoes is to pour the water off them when they are boiled. In a like sense we say it is _teeming_ rain. Irish _taom_, same sound and sense.

Ten commandments. 'She put her ten commandments on his face,' i.e. she scratched his face with her ten finger-nails. (MacCall: Wexford.) {340}

Tent; the quant.i.ty of ink taken up at one time by a pen.

Terr; a provoking ignorant presumptuous fellow. (Moran: Carlow.)

Thacka, thuck-ya, thackeen, thuckeen; a little girl. (South.) Irish _toice_, _toicin_ [thucka, thuckeen].

Thaheen; a handful of flax or hay. Irish _tath_, _taithin_ [thah, thaheen], same meaning. (Same Irish word as Tat above: but in _thaheen_ the final _t_ is aspirated to _h_, following the Irish word.)

Thauloge: a boarded-off square enclosure at one side of the kitchen fire-place of a farmhouse, where candlesticks, brushes, wet boots, &c., are put. (Moran: Carlow.)

Thayvaun or theevaun; the short beam of the roof crossing from one rafter to the opposite one. (South.) Irish _taobh_ [thaiv], a 'side,'

with the diminutive.

Theeveen; a patch on the side of a shoe. (General.) Irish _taobh_ [thaiv], a side with the dim. _een_; taoibhin [theeveen], 'little side.'

Thick; closely acquainted: same meaning as 'Great,' which see. 'd.i.c.k is very thick with Joe now.'

Thiescaun thyscaun, [thice-caun], or thayscaun: a quant.i.ty of anything, as a small load of hay drawn by a horse: 'When you're coming home with the cart from the bog, you may as well bring a little _thyscaun_ of turf. (South.) Irish _taoscan_ [thayscaun], same meaning.

Think long: to be longing for anything--home, friends, an event, &c.

(North.) 'I am thinking long till I see my mother.' {341}

Thirteen. When the English and Irish currencies were different, the English s.h.i.+lling was worth thirteen pence in Ireland: hence a s.h.i.+lling was called a _thirteen_ in Ireland:--'I gave the captain six thirteens to ferry me over to Park-gate.' (Irish Folk Song.)

Thivish; a spectre, a ghost. (General.) Irish _taidhbhse_ [thivshe], same meaning.

Thole; to endure, to bear:--'I had to thole hards.h.i.+p and want while you were away.' (All over Ulster.)

Thon, thonder; yon, yonder:--'Not a tree or a thing only thon wee couple of poor whins that's blowing up thonder on the rise.' (Seumas MacMa.n.u.s, for North-West Ulster.)

Thoun'thabock: a good beating. Literally 'strong tobacco: Ir.

_teann-tabac_ [same sound]. 'If you don't mind your business, I'll give you thounthabock.'

Thrape or threep; to a.s.sert vehemently, boldly, and in a manner not to brook contradiction. Common in Meath and from that northward.

Thrashbag; several pockets sewed one above another along a strip of strong cloth for holding thread, needles, b.u.t.tons, &c., and rolled up when not in use. (Moran: Carlow.)

Thraulagh, or thaulagh; a soreness or pain in the wrist of a reaper, caused by work. (Connaught.) Irish--two forms--_tralach_ and _tadhlach_ [thraulagh, thaulagh.]

Three-na-haila; mixed up all in confusion:--'I must arrange my books and papers: they are all _three-na-haila_.' (South.) Irish _tri n-a cheile_, 'through each other.' The translation 'through-other' is universal in Ulster. {342}

Three-years-old and Four-years-old; the names of two hostile factions in the counties of Limerick, Tipperary, and Cork, of the early part of last century, who fought whenever they met, either individually or in numbers, each faction led by its redoubtable chief. The weapons were sticks, but sometimes stones were used. We boys took immense delight in witnessing those fights, keeping at a safe distance however for fear of a stray stone. Three-years and Four-years battles were fought in New Pallas in Tipperary down to a few years ago.

Thrisloge; a long step in walking, a long jump. (Munster.) Irish _trioslog_, same sound.

Throllop; an untidy woman, a slattern, a _streel_. (Banim: very general in the South.)

Thurmus, thurrumus; to sulk from food. (Munster.) Irish _toirmesc_ [thurrumask], same meaning:--'Billy won't eat his supper: he is _thurrumusing_.'

Tibb's-Eve; 'neither before nor after Christmas,' i.e., never: 'Oh you'll get your money by Tibb's-Eve.'

Till; used in many parts of Ireland in the sense of 'in order that':--'Come here Micky _till_ I comb your hair.'

Tilly; a small quant.i.ty of anything given over and above the quant.i.ty purchased. Milkmen usually give a tilly with the pint or quart. Irish _tuilledh_, same sound and meaning. Very general.

Tinges; goods that remain long in a draper's hands. (Moran: Carlow.)

Togher [toher]; a road constructed through a bog or swamp; often of brambles or wickerwork covered over with gravel and stones. {343}

Tootn-egg [3-syll.], a peculiar-shaped bra.s.s or white-metal b.u.t.ton, having the stem fastened by a conical-shaped bit of metal. I have seen it explained as _tooth-and-egg_; but I believe this to be a guess.

(Limerick.)

Tory-top; the seed cone of a fir-tree. (South.)

Towards; in comparison with:--'That's a fine horse towards the one you had before.'

Tradesman; an artisan, a working mechanic. In Ireland the word is hardly ever applied to a shopkeeper.

Trake; a long tiresome walk: 'you gave me a great trake for nothing,'

(Ulster.)

Tram or tram-c.o.c.k; a hay-c.o.c.k--rather a small one. (Moran: Carlow.)

Trams; the ends of the cart shafts that project behind. (North.) Called _heels_ in the South.

Trance; the name given in Munster to the children's game of Scotch hop or pickey.

Traneen or trawneen; a long slender gra.s.s-stalk, like a knitting-needle. Used all over Ireland. In some places _cushoge_.

Travel; used in Ulster for walking as distinguished from driving or riding:--'Did you drive to Derry?' 'Oh no, I travelled.'