Being from Waterford, the latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary brought a huge surprise with the word ‘Blaa” being one of the many Irish English terms, including ‘spice bag,’ ‘ludraman,’ and ‘class,’ which were added to the Oxford Engligh Dictionary.
In its March update, the OED revealed a variety of new entries, particularly focusing on loanwords from languages like those spoken in Southeast Asia, South Africa, and Ireland.
Among these additions is ‘ludraman,’ derived from the Irish ‘liúdramán’ or ‘lúdramán. – personally I think the slang “Luther” pronounced ‘loother’ might come from that’ The dictionary defines it as “a lazy, unproductive, or foolish person (especially a man)” and notes that its earliest recorded use in English can be found in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
The term ‘class’ is defined as “a general term of approval: excellent, fantastic, great,” with a reference to a scene from the TV show Derry Girls where Erin responds to Sister Michael, saying, “[Sister Michael] Welcome to Derry. [Erin] It’s class, isn’t it?”
‘Spice bag’ is described as “a takeaway meal typically offered by Chinese food shops or fish and chip shops,” with a detailed explanation of its ingredients following. The OED credits a Dublin Chinese takeaway called the Sunflower with creating the spice bag around 2006. They even included a 2012 tweet where someone mentioned being tempted to get a spice bag from Sunflower.
Additionally, as I already alluded to, Waterford’s beloved and EU’s protected designation of origin soft bread roll, the ‘blaa,’ has also made its way into the OED. With the Blaa added to the dictionary, other new Irish English terms include ‘morto,’ which is a shorthand for feeling mortified or extremely embarrassed, and ‘blaa,’ with its possible origins linked to the French words ‘blanc’ (white) and ‘blé’ (wheat), though these connections remain unverified.
The latest update also includes the Irish English meaning of ‘mineral,’ which we all remember from our youth in Ireland.
What other words do you think should have been added?