Irish Insults from the Early Middle Ages

Via Irish Archaeology, twelve insults drawn from the texts of pre-Norman Ireland. They come from the Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language.

1. ‘you moulting desert ram‘ (a reithi folta fasaigh ar fiadh)

2. ‘you ugly, case-carrying, cold-handed bag carrier!’ (a thíagánaig étig aitig úarlámaig!)

3. ‘you grandson of a ploughman, filthy like a badger’ (uí airim brocṡalaig)

4. ‘you flea-ridden woodcock‘ (a chrebair chuilig)

5. ‘you son of a stammering, surly, puffed-up foreign woman‘ (mac ro boí oc gaillsig goit grúcbuirr)

6. ‘you sallow … bog-barren one‘ (a apaide acaite anachluim)

7. ‘you greedy voracious ox‘ (a chonadmairt chícaraig)

8. ‘you comb of a castrated cockerel, smoky-coloured, bent and crooked‘ (a ulcha gaillín detbudánaig cúarlúpánaig)

9. ‘you pitch on the rim of a goblet‘ (a bí ar burd ardáin)

10. you ‘boiled cow’s udder‘ (uth bo bruithi)

11. you are ‘dark and crooked, harsh and wrinkled, harsh and pot-bellied‘ (doburlúpánaig bodurgrúcánaig bodurmétlánaig)

12. you ‘horn of an infertile cow‘ (adarc bó rodraige)

Next time somebody calls me out of touch and privileged, I'm going to call him or her a boiled cow's udder. Be warned.