Westport 'Cant', Westport The Tear and The Smile
The following 'Cant' list might give you an idea of the local Westport dialect you will encounter through the pages.
Extract from Chapter 3 'Westport The Tear and The Smile' by Joe McNally
| Dialect | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cove/Covey | A Westportite |
| Clem | Bad - No Good |
| Lettie/Cassie | A house or home |
| To Joss it | Is to Die |
| Joss | In animal terms, is a useless or no good animal |
| Shades or Shadeógs | Gardai |
| Skiv | A House Servant girl |
| Rowl | A wind up / coddin' |
| A Layin' Hen | A working wife - outside the home |
| Wheeze/Whid | Ask - Play Up - Tell |
| Queered | Finished - Useless |
| Luke/Nanty | Say Nothing - Be Quiet |
| Crush | Move |
| Bunce | Money |
| Donor | Girl |
| A Lay | A Drink |
| Quack | Doctor |
| Lamp | Look or see while |
| Lamped | Is to be caught |
| The Lid | Jail |
| A Sham | Generally referred to the Castlebar boys who came over to the local dances whiddin' the local Donors |
| Rum | Good or Sound |
| Wide | To understand or to be cute or wise to a thing |
| Cade E | A Cap |
| Carnish | Meat |
