Gobshite

Gobshite - a great Irish word if ever there was one. It's perhaps the most damning of insults in the Emerald Isle, spoken with a particular vehemence and finality that leaves no doubt as to the nature of the individual being described. Only people can be gobshites. Never do you hear "well, my dog/cat/goldfish is a total gobshite" although I reckon it could be applied to certain canine varieties. "That Pug/Chihuahua/Basset Hound/Yorkshire Terrier is a bit of a gobshite" works quite well. Could catch on I guess. I’ll leave it with you. 

As the Celtic Tiger miaowed its last the Irish Daily Star newspaper ran the infamous headline USELESS GOBSHITES alongside a picture of senior government ministers and Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Said it all really. Recently Liam Gallagher publicly called his brother Noel a "fucking gobshite". No surprise there. Oddly enough, the word is more generally used to describe a person’s demeanour rather than being based on what spills from their mouth. A gobshite is just as likely to be a fool of few words as an idiot gushing inanities.

Stupid Gobshite. Ignorant Gobshite. Thick Gobshite. Total Gobshite. Uneducated Gobshite. Illiterate Gobshite. Awful Gobshite. and of course most damning of all Useless Gobshite. To my mind the word holds most punch when muttered under the breath and accompanied by a despairing shake of the head. This usually happens when an unwelcome drinking companion finally drains their glass and exits the pub.

So - there you have it - Gobshite. A marvelous bit of Irish slang. Give it a bash – goes well with beer.

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Here’s a wee clip of Father Jack showing just how it’s done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R89oERKCaU

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