What do the words bingewatch, podcast, doomscrolling, prinks, and ghosting have in common?
They are examples of words that have entered everyday speech in recent years – chances are you used at least one of them recently without so much as a second thought. But how did they make it into common usage?
The internationally dominant position of English in commerce, trade and technology means new terms often arise in English first before being adopted or adapted for use by other languages. Irish speakers who used the site formerly known as Twitter will be familiar with the word “tvuíteáil” for “tweeting”, for example.
Irish is not alone when it comes to adopting words from other languages. In German, the word “handy” is used to describe mobile phones, while in French, words such as “streaming”, “podcast” and “le weekend” are commonly used.
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Despite the privileged position held by English in Ireland, it is not all one-way traffic. English has adopted loanwords of Irish origin over the years with words such as “banshee” (bean sídhe), “smithereens” (smidiríní), “slew” (sluagh), and perhaps “kibosh” (caidhp bháis).
One of the core characteristics of any living language is its ability to adapt to new concepts, technology and social change. And loanwords such as these are simply examples of the speakers of living languages doing what the speakers of living languages do.
And, Irish is no different. The idea that minority languages struggle to keep pace with modernity is more a reflection of outdated or dismissive postcolonial attitudes towards language than of any limitation of a language itself. The irony was not lost on this writer recently when an English speaker demanded to know the Irish word for “croissant”, presumably not realising the origin of the word.
Of course, not all new words are loanwords. As is the case with other languages, words emerge in Irish that describe new concepts as the language evolves. As the official online Irish dictionary, Focloir.ie offers us a window into how the language embraces new concepts and ideas. The site is home to An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge – a new monolingual Irish dictionary launched last year.
Linguists are constantly updating the site with new terms – some may be imported from other languages (like píotsa – pizza – from Italian), while other terms have developed from pre-existing Irish words (craosfhéachaint – bingewatch). The site includes useful grammatical information, audio files and usage notes.
The list below includes words and examples that have been updated by the team at focloir.ie, and other words that have yet to be added but will doubtless appear before long.
outdoor life / an saol allamuigh
e-scooter / scútar leictreach
Sampla: scútar leictreach a thiomáint / to ride an e-scooter
sauna / sána, seomra allais
Sampla: chaith mé seal sa sána / I spent a while in the sauna
weather warning / rabhadh aimsire, foláireamh aimsire
Sampla: tá rabhadh aimsire buí i bhfeidhm / a yellow weather warning is in place
surfing / surfáil
Sampla: chuamar ag surfáil / we went surfing
glamping / glampáil
Sampla: beimid ag glampáil ag an bhféile cheoil / we will be glamping at the music festival
food / bia
smoothie / caoineog, smúdaí
oat milk / bainne coirce
Sampla: latte mór agus bainne coirce ann / a large latte with oat milk
flat white / báinín, caife maolbhán
Sampla: dhá bháinín, le do thoil / two flat whites, please
air fryer / aerfhriochtóir
Sampla: úsáidimid an t-aerfhriochtóir gach lá / we use the air fryer every day
domestic life / saol an teaghlaigh
underfloor heating / teas faoin urlár
Sampla: tá teas faoin urlár sa teach / there is underfloor heating in the house
heat pump / teaschaidéal
Sampla: teaschaidéal á shuiteáil / a heat pump being installed
solar panel / painéal gréine, grianphainéal
Sampla: painéil ghréine a chur ar dhíon an tí / to put solar panels on the roof of the house
smart speaker / callaire cliste
Sampla: do ghuthán a cheangal leis an gcallaire cliste / to connect your phone to the smart speaker
steam cleaner / galghlantóir
Sampla: galghlantóir á úsáid / using a steam cleaner
hybrid working / obair chumaisc
Sampla: socrú oibre lae san obair chumaisc / a day’s work arrangement in hybrid working
modern phenomena / feiniméin an lae inniu
cancel culture / cealchultúr, cultúr cealaithe
Sampla: cur i gcoinne an chealchultúir / opposition to cancel culture
woke / múscailte
Sampla: duine múscailte / a woke person
mansplaining / fearmhíniú
Sampla: cuireadh fearmhíniú ina leith / he was accused of mansplaining
conspiracy theory / teoiric chomhcheilge
Sampla: teoiric chomhcheilge faoin toghchán / a conspiracy theory about the election
vape / galtoitín
Sampla: galtoitín a chaitheamh / to vape
skinny jab / instealladh caillte meáchain
escape room / seomra éalaithe
Sampla: d’éirigh linn an seomra éalaithe a shárú / we managed to complete the escape room
pandemic / paindéim
Sampla: le linn na paindéime / during the pandemic
staycation / saoire sa bhaile
Sampla: rinneamar saoire sa bhaile i mbliana / we had a staycation this year
social life / an saol sóisialta
ghosting / góstáil
Sampla: rinneadh góstáil orm / I was ghosted
the ick / an t-ucht? déistin, samhnas?
pre-drinks / réamhdeochanna
Sampla: réamhdeochanna san árasán / pre-drinks in the apartment
neurodivergent / néara-éagsúil
Sampla: duine néara-éagsúil / a neurodivergent person
technology / teicneolaíocht
smartphone / fón cliste, guthán cliste
Sampla: tá guthán cliste ag gach duine anois / everyone has a smartphone now
artificial intelligence / intleacht shaorga
Sampla: an rud maith í an intleacht shaorga? / is artificial intelligence a good thing?
wifi password / pasfhocal don wifi
Sampla: cad é an pasfhocal don wifi? / what is the wifi password?
self-driving car / gluaisteán uathrialaitheach
Sampla: Cheannaigh mé gluaisteán uathrialaitheach / I purchased a self-driving car
podcast / podchraoladh
Sampla: éistim le go leor podchraoltaí / I listen to a lot of podcasts
selfie / féinín
Sampla: glacaimis féinín / let’s take a selfie
streaming / sruthú
Sampla: sruthú mídhleathach / illegal streaming
bingewatch / craosfhéachaint
Sampla: craosfhéachaint a dhéanamh ar chlár teilifíse / to binge-watch a television programme
screen time / am ar an scáileán, am scáileáin, am úsáide scáileáin
Sampla: Is am amú é am úsáide scáileáin / screen time is a waste of time
doomscrolling / gruamscrolláil
Sampla: an oíche a chaitheamh ag gruamscrolláil / spending the night doomscrolling
data centre / ionad sonraí
Sampla: úsáideann na hionaid sonraí a lán uisce / data centres use a lot of water
cloud storage / néalstóráil
data analytics / anailísíocht sonraí
Sampla: post san anailísíocht sonraí / a job in data analytics
social media / na meáin shóisialta
influencer / tionchairí
Sampla: tionchairí ar líne / an online influencer
troll / troll
Sampla: níl ann ach troll / he’s just a troll
algorithm / algartam
Sampla: tá an t-algartam iomlán as riocht / the algorithm is completely off
viral / mearscaipe
Sampla: físeán mearscaipe / a viral video
to catfish somebody / an chuma fhíorúil a chur ar dhuine
Sampla: cuireadh an chuma fhíorúil orm / I was catfished
swipe / svaidhpeáil
Sampla: svaidhpeáil ar chlé / swipe left
share / roinn
Sampla: grianghraf a roinnt / to share a photograph
follow / lean
Sampla: duine a leanúint ar Instagram / to follow someone on Instagram
tag / clibeáil
Sampla: clibeáil / to tag
e-commerce / ríomhthráchtáil
Sampla: is ollchomhlacht ríomhthráchtála é Amazon / Amazon is a giant e-commerce company
online banking / baincéireacht ar líne
Sampla: is nós le daoine úsáid a bhaint as baincéireacht ar líne chun billí a íoc / people tend to pay bills using online banking
online shopping / siopadóireacht ar líne
Sampla: tá níos mó daoine ag siopadóireacht ar líne anois ná mar a bhí riamh cheana / more people are shopping online than ever before
contactless payment / íocaíocht gan tadhall
Sampla: is féidir íocaíocht gan tadhall a dhéanamh beagnach i ngach siopa / contactless payment can be made in most shops
cryptocurrency / criptea-airgeadra
Sampla: an nglacfar le híocaíochtaí criptea-airgeadra amach anseo? / will cryptocurrency payments be accepted in the future?
drone delivery / seachadadh le drón
Sampla: is féidir le siopaí earraí a sheachadadh le drón / shops can send products by drone
scam call / glao scamála
Sampla: ná freagair glaoanna anaithnid ar do ghuthán / do not answer anonymous calls on your phone
cybersecurity / cibearshlándáil
Sampla: beimid ag glampáil ag an bhféile cheoil / we will be glamping at the music festival
