A boy the kid: Limerick lingo laid bare

LIMERICK lingo is a rule onto its own.

For instance, no true Limerick rugby fan ever went to Thomond Park. They go to “Toomond” Park.

And when a Limerick rugby fan cheers after a score, it’s not with a “well done”. The true Limerick cheer is roared: “A boy the kid.”

The Limerick language barrier has now been laid bare with a new publication, The Limerick Lexicon, launched yesterday by the Mayor of Limerick Cllr John Gilligan.

Limerick salesman Sam Windrim has been working on mining up to 1,300 “Limerickisms” through research over the past three years.

Sam, originally from Ballynanty, said: “I got the idea after reading two books on slang titled Slanguage and Words We Use. But, of the thousands of slang words, I only could find about 30 which could be associated with Limerick and this surprised me. So I started my research and it led to the publication of my book.”

“I discovered that the term West Brit was first used in the House of Commons by Limerick MP, Thomas Spring Rice whose statue stands in the People’s Park. Obviously, there is a lot of rugby expressions used by local fans. If a forward is not getting stuck in, he is dismissed as an “inspector of rucks” and a back who is not defending well is “looking for mushrooms”.

“Then there are the people who turn up for big games only and they are dismissed by the hardened rugby fan as the ‘what was that for gang’.”

Sam, 41 said a lot of Limerick slang originated from the bacon factories in the city, like Shaws.

The 76-page Limerick Lexicon costs €5 and all proceeds will go to a cancer charity.

* More information 087-9318166.