The Gift of the Gab - gifts with an Irish Twist

It’s  an undisputed fact that us Irish have the gift of the gab. Most of us haven’t just kissed the Blarney Stone, we spent the night with it! With this gift of eloquence, this love of wordiness, wordplay and puns, we bring humour and wit to everyday interactions. We slag each other, we give things, people and places nicknames. We poke fun using words, and enjoy the fact that there are relatively few people on the planet who understand what the hell we’re going on about!

This love of words and slang has spilled over into art, literature and culture. It’s worked its way into gift giving and into loads of our gorgeous products here at designist. These products tell a story via Dublin-isms or general Irish slang.

Our Gobshite and Geebag Mugs and pins are a perfect example of how pretty harsh sentiments translate perfectly into heartfelt gifts. Our “extensive research” taught us that Geebag most likely derives from a version of Sheela na Gig, while Gobshite comes from the old celtic word for mouth (gob). These words are charmingly insulting and petty, and they make people smile and guffaw every day in the shop. There’s no better compliment than a proper Irish slagging off. 

Havin’ a ride - possibly the most used Irish slang out there. It’s pretty perfect, isn’t it. It sits many miles from harsher terms for ‘doing it’, but still has a sharp wit about it. It stirs up notions of Roddy Doyle’s best characters, and brings back memories of our youth - and that one person who was always described as a ‘total ride’. If you know someone worthy of being called a ride -  these socks are perfect for their ridey feet, while this card will sit beautifully on their ridey shelf.

And finally, on to our own pet version of the F word. Feck. I think it’s a work of pure genius that we have managed to substitute one single character, and end up with a soft, warm sounding semi-curse that even your prudish old aunt would utter if she dropped her knife at a dinner party. Again, we instantly jump to fond memories of Fr Jack’s roars, getting away with cursing at school, and that lovely sentiment “Feck it, will we have another one?!”

For the love of all the F-Bombs you were afraid to drop, check out our feck it socks and spoil yourself, or some total ride you feckin’ love!  :)

And if all of this has gotten you into the mood for throwing a few lighthearted insults around, why not try out the Irish Insult Generator? It's Feckin' Brilliant.