Your need to know on deciphering the Derry Girls lingo

This will make binging the 'proper gas' Channel 4 series a little easier

derry girls lingo

by Hannah Mellin |
Published on

Derry Girls - created from the brilliant mind of Lisa McGee - is the dark comedy coming of age show (it's Inbetweeners for gals) we need in our lives. The show, set in Londonderry at the time of 'the troubles' is back for its third and final season, sees a flawed group of friends try to navigate the frankly hellish task of teenage life.

Fans can watch the new season every Tuesday at 9:15pm on Channel 4, with the first two series ready to binge on All4.

The show has gained legions of fans, but it's safe to say not all of us understand the nods to the Derry dialect with some pretty hilarious phrases.

derry girls lingo
©Channel 4

Well, thank us later, because with the help of Preply, we've got a handy guide to the sayings and phrases used and loved by main characters Erin, Orla, Michelle, James and Clare.

Ride

Michelle regularly refers to herself as other as a 'Ride', which basically means a good-looking person.

Acting the maggot

In Irish, to say that someone is “acting the maggot”, means that they are acting silly and foolish.

Melter

The word is actually a common way to describe someone who is an idiot, or extremely annoying.

Wired to the moon

Ever been on a crazy night out and relied on copious amounts of coffee to get you through the next day?

Well, if you’re looking for a phrase to describe it, Derry Girls would refer to this as being ‘wired to the moon’.

The pale

In true Irish slang, the ‘pale’ refers to the capital, which is Dublin.

How’s she cuttin’?

Forget the standard ‘how are you?’ in Ireland. Instead, you’re much more likely to hear the popular phrase ‘how’s she cuttin?’ or ‘howya?’.

Gas

Known as one of the most common phrases in the Irish language, ‘gas’ refers to something being funny or amusing.

Dooter

Forget a walk in the park, it’s all about a ‘dooter’ in the park in Ireland. With Ireland boasting picturesque rural landscapes, it’s definitely well worth doing on a ‘dooter’ to explore the surrounding area.

Banjaxed

If it ain’t ‘banjaxed’, don’t fix it! As suggested, this word refers to something being broken, whether that be a chair or your bank balance after a day out in Dublin.

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Derry Girls creator Lisa, who grew up in Derry in the 90s, has revealed that she was adamant that the actors she cast in the loved show were just like herself when she was younger, telling Irish Times, “I really wanted them to feel like girls from Derry, not people doing accents. There’s a punk attitude to teenage girls in Derry. They’ve got a very bold sense of humour. They’re fearless. You have to have that sort of swagger. It’s hard to pretend to have that.”

The third series will come to an end at the Good Friday agreement in 1998, an important time in history that saw a agreement between the British and Irish governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, on how Northern Ireland should be governed.

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