The following are some expressions that we used when I was a young boy.  It should be noted that the uvular ‘R’ is the most prominent feature of Waterford speech and one would have to hear it to fully appreciate its effectiveness.  When I was in school, several boys had what we called a 'Ballybricken' accent and it was hilarious to hear them recite, "R-R-Round the R-R-Rugged R-R-Rock, the R-R-Ragged R-R-Rascal R-R-Ran."  

ALL-YAWN: a boring person.

BALKIE:  Pronounced 'Bawkie'.  An awkward hurler or footballer.

BAZZLED: You could be 'bazzled' with snowballs or sods of clay.

BEDDIES: A girl’s street-game similar to hopscotch.

BLAA: Specifically, this is a piece of doughy bread, peculiar to Waterford city and its immediate hinterland. It is also in common use among city people as a synonym of money, e.g. "That article is worth ten blaa's!"  The etymology of the word is unknown.  One theory is that it came to Waterford with the Huguenots (croissant) and another that it originated with Brother Rice in Mount Sion School where he employed a baker (reputedly a Belgian) so that the poor boys could be fed prior to starting classes.

BLAZIERS: See ‘Chinies.’(Marbles).  During this game you were allowed to stop a chinie if you put your feet in a V shape with your heels together and shouted ‘Blaziers’ at the same time.

CANT: When playing Hurling or Football, if a ball was hit or kicked in any direction or indiscriminately – e.g. in defence when under pressure – it was said that it was canted, e.g. “For God’s sake will you cant it.”

CAT: If a Hurling or Football game was bad it was described as 'Cat.'  See also ‘Melodeon’.

CHAINIES: A street game played with broken delph.

CHAP: The ‘good’ guy in the movies was always called ‘the Chap.’  (The girl in the film was called ‘the Lack.’)

CHINIES: A game of marbles

DAG: You gave someone a ‘dag’ if you hit or poked him.

DAN DIDDLE AN: The cry that went up in the cinema on the first appearance of the 'Chap’ – usually in a cowboy film.

DIDDLY CLUB: A Christmas savings club operated in a neighbourhood by a local woman.

DOODENALS:  A corruption of 'urinals'. A public Urinal on Ballybricken Hill.  A member of Waterford Corporation once proposed that 'Arsenals' should be built nearby.

FECKER: A small piece of cardboard, or wood, that was used to toss-up the two half-pennies in a game of Pitch and Toss. 

GALLERY: A word used to describe a good time, e.g.“We had great gallery.”

GALLY BANDER: A homemade catapult.

GANT: Money, see ‘Make.’

GOODY: A meal, usually breakfast, made of bread and hot milk.

GILDY: Pronounced “Jildy”.  Used to describe a fellow who was all “dolled up”, usually with Brilliantine (A Proprietary Hair Oil) in his hair.

HEELBALL: A fellow was all 'heelball' if he was ‘all dressed up and full of business.’

ID ID IT: If you wanted to say ‘that’s it’ (with emphasis), you said ‘That’s id id it.’

LACK: A girl or, more usually, a girl-friend.

L.O.B.: An abbreviation of ‘Look Out Boys.’ Our version of the Latin ‘Cave’ This was used to warn of the approach of an adult while you were doing something for which you might get into trouble.  A good example would be if the ‘look-out boy' spotted the owner when you were robbing his orchard.  The 'lookout' would shout L.O.B.

MAKE: Money, usually a penny.  (See also ‘Gant’).  The word 'make' is an old English word.  You will find it in Shakespeare.

MASSIVE: A euphemism for gorgeous.  Usually used by women about women.  e.g. Did you see Annie with her new twin-set?  She was only massive!

MEB: See ‘Chinies,’a small chinie

MELODEON: Pronounced “Malojen”.  See also ‘Cat.’

MEETER: In Hurling, you ‘meetered’ a ball when you hit it as it was coming towards you, and sent it back from where it had come.

SCUM THE NEW HEEL: See Chinies. This was shouted to put your opponent off his game.

SHELLICKY BOO-KY: The common garden snail.  Liam Clancy, of the folk- singing group 'The Clancy Brothers', referred to this during a concert in New York's Carnegie Hall when he introduced a song by saying, "I'm now going to sing a song about a shellicky boo-ky.  Are there any Waterford people in the hall?  The nearest big town to where I live is Waterford and a shellicky boo-ky is the name that Waterford people give to the common snail."

SQUEALER: A young pigeon.

RACK: A comb.  If a black 'rack' was seen on the ground its origin was usually attributed to a 'Bibe' (Badhb), the name given locally to the Banshee (Bean Sidhe)..

ROG: A mongrel pigeon. This was pronounced as R-R-Rog (using, of course, the uvular ‘R’)

TAW: See ‘Chinies’.  A large “chinie.”

THE CRUSH: This was the queue (line) for the cinema, especially for the Savoy and Regal cinemas.  It must be stated that we had no concept of an orderly queue.  There were times, while queuing, when I thought I would die from asphyxiation.  It was not unusual for boys to faint in the 'crush.' 

THE MEN: While playing cards or Pitch and Toss at a street corner a shout of “The Men” gave license for anyone to grab the “Pot”

TIPPER: A “Good for nothing”, a vagabond.  There was a Limerick soccer player named Mick Lipper and whenever he played in Waterford he was always greeted with the cry, "Lipper the Tipper."  

VERK: To hit or kick a ball (This is not the same as ‘cant’).

WELL: The universal greeting used by Waterford people whenever, and wherever,  they meet. One says, ‘Well Boy’or ‘Well Girl’ - (Girrrl - with the uvular 'R').