CHANNEL 4’s new comedy Derry Girls is set to premiere in January – and to prepare audiences for the local lingo, the broadcaster has issued a ‘Derry glossary’.The six-part series is written by Lisa McGee and focuses on her own stories of growing up in Derry in the early 1990s.
Starring Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan, as well as Saoirse Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, the programme is set against the backdrop of The Troubles.
It focuses on a girl called Erin, played by Jackson, and her friends who are used to seeing their country on the nightly news.
It’s a time of armed police in armoured Land Rovers and British Army check points, but it’s also the time of Murder She Wrote, The Cranberries, MJ and Lisa Marie, Doc Martens, bomber jackets, The X Files, Nirvana and Wayne’s World.
Ahead of the series kicking off on January 4, Channel 4 have issues a handy “Derry Girls glossary” for viewers who may not be familiar with the vernacular from that part of the world.
How many do you know?
Bars: Gossip / scandal
Boke: Vomit
Brit: A member of the British armed forces
Broke: Embarrassed
Broke to the bone: Hugely embarrassed
Buzzing: Very happy
Catch yourself on: “Don’t be so ridiculous”
Cack attack: A state of extreme nervousness “I’m having a complete Cack attack”
Chicken ball special: A local delicacy
Class: Brilliant
Craic: Fun, but also news e.g. “Tell us your craic?”
Cracker: Beyond brilliant
Critter: Someone who evokes sympathy e.g. “You poor Critter”
Dose: An unbearable human being
Eejit: Idiot
Hi: A sound placed at the end of almost any sentence for no particularly reason e.g. “No problem hi”
Gone: Please
Head melter: Someone who causes you mental distress
Lurred: Absolutely delighted
Mind: “Do you remember?”
Mouth: Someone prone to exaggeration
Mucker: Friend
No Bother: “That’s no trouble whatsoever”
Raging: Annoyed/angry
Ride (n): A very attractive person
Ride (v): To have sex
Ripping: Extremely annoyed / angry
Saunter: “Be on your way”
Sh**e the tights: Someone of a nervous disposition
Slabber: A show off
So it is/so I am: A phrase used for emphasis e.g. “I’m delighted, so I am”
Start: To provoke e.g. “Don’t start me”
Stall the ball: “Stop what you’re doing immediately”
Tayto cheese and onion sandwich: A local delicacy
Wain: A child or young person
Watch yourself: Take care
Wile: Very or Terrible
Wise up: “Don’t be so stupid and/or immature”
Yes: Hello
