Can you speak Ballyfermian…
by emmyOk ok so I know I already did the whole proud to be Irish thing but with this being ballyfermot.ie I thought I would do something about the Ballyfermot dialect…which we all know is…well…distinct.
The name Ballyfermot originally came from the irish name of “Baile Diarmuid” which means “town of Dermot”. Over the years it developed into “Ballyfermot” due to language and spelling…typical.
Some might say its pure laziness the way we talk as it sounds like we just don’t put the effort into saying the full word…like howya (how are you)…But is it just because we have so much to say in such little time we are forced to shorten our words?…Its almost like a secret Ballyfermot code if your not from ballyfermot you probably wont be able to understand….well maybe someone from Clondalkin or Tallaght would…but other than that its practically Egyptian.
Although it can often be the case of lengthening or varying our words by using other sayings…for example for hello: Wats d story…wats d crack…hows it goin…alrih…
And sometimes its just changing the whole word all together… like how we pronounce potato - bidata…house - gaf…scarleh/marleh-embarrassed…yiz ar-you(pl)..massive-beautiful,bags-trousers,cacks-underwear and everyone is supposed to know that when you say your “down d roid” that you mean your on the Ballyfermot road not just down the road from your house or on some random street.
Some might say its annoying but I think it’s nice to embrace the culture of the small area we live in. Love it or hate it but if you grow up here your sure as hell gona speak it.
So if your ever speaking to a person from the wonderful world of Ballyfermot and cannot understand what they’re saying, try to:
- Add various letters onto the end of the words
- Try to substitute an E to what you hear as A or O
- Say “wah” or “wah rye on abouh”
- Or leave me a comment for some translations
So if you can speak Ballyfermian think of it as an unrecognised talent and embrace your gift….Thank you…..(Fair play,talk chise)
This is actually a very interesting blog you wrote emmy, but I wouldn’t just narrow the dialect down to Ballyfermian. I would think its more of a Dublin thing, like a code or language for well the Skangers or the simply minded. Have you notice its like Skanger cloning in Ballyfermot lately, Well actually Dublin in general, But i’ll focus on Ballyfermot. They all have the same fashion trend and when the speak its nearly the same as the guy beside them would speak. Like the dialect is spoken slow, mumbled, broken and kinda like if they were speaking to you through there noise. If you know what I mean. I wonder why they choose to speak like this? Maybe they think its cool or something. But I personally just don’t get it. But not all of Ballyfermot speak like that, I would say about 30% of the Ballyfermot people would, but the other percentage would speak ever so posh, plus a small percentage would speak a foreign dialect.
Here is some words for your Ballyfermian vocabulary -
Window = Winda
Piano = Piana
Jaysis = Jesus
Ungfella = Young Man
Story = Staaaary
Wit = with
Leggit = Run Faster
Sketch = Run/there’s the guards
Gear = Stuff/Drugs/personal belongings etc
Kind regards.
Thanks for the comment Darren,
Yea I get cha. I think it is kind of a Dublin way of speaking too but the likes of people from D4 who were all apparently born and raised to speak like they are actually form America dont exactly meet the criteria for the Ballyfermian language. Yes it doesnt take much to dress the same when they go to their wardrobe and choose 1 of 15 tracksuits. I would say speaking through the nose is more of a D4 thing Ballyfermian just kind of sounds as if there is a delayed reaction and people seem pissed off all the time…thats the Ballyfermian way.
For more about the History on Ballyfermot try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballyfermot its got lots of good stuff. I like the post Emmy
Story Emmy, hows it goin. Wat about the dress code in Ballyer. Maybe someone should open a bijama shop on d mainer - they’d make a fortune wat wit d crimbo comin up an all dat. P.J’s Fashion Outlet: day and evening wear 4 ung an ole