Langer loses its secret code to dictionary

LIKE the Navajo code talkers, the Indians and, more especially, cowboys of Cork long had at their disposal a mysterious word that could not be understood beyond the county bounds - not any more, the jewel in the local lingo, langer, has been lifted.

So, next time you tell a non-Corkonian ‘know what boy! you’re a prize langer!’, be warned - chances are he’ll know exactly what you mean, so save yourself an awful land.

Despite a recent musical treatise on the word, langer maintained much of its mysterious allure and most of its currency among cafflers.

It was one of those words like dawfake which had a myriad applications.

Today FM radio yesterday changed all that when they invited people to text in their favourite slang word - langer won outright and made a smathers of all contenders.

Then, broadcaster Ray D’Arcy and his sidekick researcher Will Hanafin, a tarry boy, egged on the listeners to email the Collins Word Exchange and the rest is about to become linguistic history.

Last night, Mr Hanafin said while there had been some threat from hugely popular words like ‘shitehawk’ in the course of the radio show, it soon became clear that langer was, well, only massive.

Collins English Dictionaries editor-in-chief Jeremy Butterfield was astounded also by the popularity of the word: “I have never seen such passion about a single word before.

“We have fast tracked it straight into the Living Dictionary as it so obviously deserves a place. This is exactly what the Word Exchange was built for and we are awed by the positive response we have had from Irish word fans.”

Hundreds of Irish Word Exchange users campaigned throughout the day to get the word into the dictionary.

“Homage to you has been duly paid in the discussion forum where the debate still goes on,” Mr Butterfield said.

Intrigued by the wave of linguistic passion he is seeking further illumination - “Is a Cork/Dublin divide developing over the use of langer to describe drunkenness? Is the term only suitable for describing men - can women ever be langers?

“Can the word be used affectionately? Is ‘langball’ a genuine derivation of the langer?”

The Living Dictionary, which heretofore had one listing for ‘langer’ viz a well-known German golfer, has adopted:

langer noun Irish (Derog. slang)

1. A fool; an idiot.

2. (Slang) penis.

3. Adjective, langers extremely drunk.