Us Irish are lauded the world over for our magical way with words and our ancient and near mystical commune with language and this mythical communion finds its greatest expression in one particular discipline....cursing!
Now due to the unique petri-dish of this countrys love of cursing versus its god fearing past, we have excelled in creating what I will call The G.F.C or the ‘Guilt Free Curse’.
So uncover your ears...here are The Today FM Top 5 G.F.C’s
1. ‘Feck’
As Irish as De Valera mashing spuds during the interval of Riverdance, the use of ‘Feck’ instead of its more incendiary cousin is essentially written into our constitution. From tantrumming toddlers to angry owld wans, ‘Feck’ can often be the first word an Irish person will ever say. In fact so Irish is it that once said in any other accent apart from one of our own, it just sounds wrong.
2. ‘Gobsheen’
A derivative of Gobsh**e, ‘Gobsheen’ is a glorious alternative that with typical Irish skill seems to carry even more venom than its inspiration.
3. ‘Jameses Street Tonight’
Invoking the name of our Lord is a go-to for any cursaholic so traditionally us Irish have had to circumvent bothering the commandments with some verbal trickery. ‘Jameses Street Tonight’ was a deft and almost affectionate substitute originating from Dublin.
4. ‘Sugar’
There’s scarce a Mam or Nan throughout this land that hasn’t vented their fury with a fearsome ‘Sugar’ rather than it’s far less appealing forbearer. More technically used as a verb in most instances and closer in fact to its f-word cousin in application. For example ‘Ah sugar I forgot to set the yoke to record Winning Streak’.
5. ‘Japers’ and ‘Jakers’
Again our need to invoke J.C in times of crisis has given birth to many sin dodging variants on His blessed name. 'Japers' and 'Jakers' are textbook examples of the G.F.C and with the exception of ‘Gobsheen’ the most fun to say.
