Dialect Dictionary: Five Galway Slang Terms You Need To Know

Galway is probably one of the most famous tourist towns in Ireland but hidden beneath its medieval exterior is a town which depends on frequent visits to the Charcoal Grill, twilight cans in Eyre Square and kicking the wall on the prom. If you're planning a visit to the City of the Tribes, here's five essential terms you may need to know lest you end up looking very confused on Quay Street...

1. Sparch

Probably better known to most outside the county as the Spanish Arch, the “Sparch” is the area where basically the whole of Galway gathers whenever there is a slight hint of sun. Generally, this is the open air drinking area where the guards attempt to move everybody away from the second any bit of good weather hits the city. Which is rare. Galway will be Venice soon.

How to use: “Look! It’s the sun! SPARCH!”

A rare sunny day...

2. Gomey

Bit of a favourite insult amongst the Galwegians this one, gomey is a harsher term of telling someone they’re a right bloody eejit.

How to use: “You’re a real gomey, aren’t you?”

3. Buer/Feek

Galwegians don’t use normal terms like “girl”, “hot” or “good-looking”... Oh no! We have our own terms of endearment. Buer is a woman/girl and feek is used to describe someone you would find particularly attractive..

How to use: “Come here to me, buer, what’s the story with....?”

“Did you see your man? He is such a feek!”

Quay Street at night

4. Are ya wide?

No, it’s not what you think we’re referring to! Get your mind out of the gutter. “Wide” as slang in Galway generally refers to someone who knows what’s going on or to enquire what someone may be up to for the evening...

How to use: “What’s going on this evening? Are ya wide?” or “Ya wide about what’s happening?”

5. Score

This one can be a bit of a grey area outside of Galway but score generally means you hooked up. Now this can vary for different people because on occasion score can indicate you kissed, on other occasions it could mean more.

How to use: “You never guess who I scored last night...”

It rains a lot in Galway. Just FYI

Classy bunch, the Galwegians.

 

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