Page:English as we speak it in Ireland - Joyce.djvu/154

 CH. X.] A bitter tongue that utters cutting words is like the keen wind of March that blows at every side of the hedge.

A person praising strong whiskey says:—I felt it like a torchlight procession going down my throat.

A man with a keen sharp look in his face:—'He has an eye like a questing hawk.' Usually said in an unfavourable sense.

If any commodity is supplied plentifully it is knocked about like snuff at a wake. Snuff was supplied free at wakes; and the people were not sparing of it as they got it for nothing.

A chilly day:—'There's a stepmother's breath in the air.'

Now Biddy clean and polish up those spoons and knives and forks carefully; don't stop till you make them shine like a cat's eye under a bed. (Limerick.)

It is foolish to threaten unless you have—and show that you have—full power to carry out your threats:—'Don't show your teeth till you're able to bite.'

Greasing the fat sow's lug: i.e. giving money or presents to a rich man who does not need them. (Kildare.)

I went on a visit to Tom and he fed me like a fighting cock.

That little chap is as cute as a pet fox.

A useless worthless fellow:—He's fit to mind mice at a cross-roads. (Kildare.)

How did he look? Oh he had a weaver's blush—pale cheek and a red nose. (Wexford.)

When a person clinches an argument, or puts a hard fact in opposition, or a poser of any kind hard to answer:—'Put that in your pipe and smoke it.'