。。。The next, shorter leg of the trip is the time to bone up on Irish language and culture. The Lonely Planet's little pocket guide is a very entertaining and portable way of doing this.
For instance, it advises that if you overhear someone saying feck, feck off, fecking, fecker or shite, don't be too shocked - they're about as potent as saying "darn" and not as bad as you think. Even the '90s TV show Father Ted used these cusses liberally.
For the non-Irish, I'd advise caution though. Perhaps, if you choose to lay the hard ethnic word on someone, you should instead opt for the top curses suggested by the book:
"May you leave without returning", "may you fall without rising" or "may the cat eat you, and may the cat be eaten by the devil".
Feck. It's tough stuff.
For much more along these lines, the little book's a revelation.
Source: "The Age" article by Richard Woolveridge.
