20 Ballymena phrases we know and love

Ladies and gentlemen take your seats for 20 Ballymena phrases we know and love.
Ballymena Seven Towers roundabout.Ballymena Seven Towers roundabout.
Ballymena Seven Towers roundabout.

Lead - a unit of measurement for intelligence. Thus if one does ‘not have a glead’ one is challenged on the common sense front.

Skelly - To take a quick glance at something.

Clabbered - To be covered in dirt - see ‘Bogging’

A - Reference to oneself. The most common example of Ballymena-speak by far. Example: “A love dulse so a do.”

Amint - A plea for re-assurance often used by children. Example: “A’m a good footballer mammy, amint a?” Derived from the somewhat outdated expression ‘Am I not?’

Binlid – a person who displays all the IQ of the cover on a refuse receptacle. Example: “He hasn’t the sense he was born with. What a binlid.”
Bloon – A person who displays little or no common sense. Example – “See thon boy? He’s a bloon, so he is.” A person with a balding pate may also be described as a ‘bloonhead’ .. if you’re fast enough on your feet.

Blarge - Dual meaning. To approach a task haphazardly (i.e. thon bloon took a blarge at the garden an’near killed himself.” Or, to overindulge in alcohol. Example: “He’s suffering today after that blarge he took last night”.

Chat/Chaterina - A thingimmybob. Superb term which can be used in almost every situation. Chaterina (the full dictionary version) is rarely used now but ‘chat’ remains commonplace. Example: “Reach me thon chat.” The incredible thing is most people in Ballymena will be aware, in the context of the situation, exactly what item you require.

Crater – (noun). This has nothing to do with the moon and is, in fact, a widely used term of sympathy. Example: “Sure it’s a pity of that crater.”
Clem – Term of offence. A person who continually makes a fool of himself is a ‘clem.’ Click – To form a happy relationship. Example: “She’s a clem and he’s a bloonhead. It’s no wonder they clicked.”

Dab - A unit of currency. Ten dabs being economically equivalent to 10.

Gunk - shock, often used in conjunction with ‘quare’ (meaning big or massive). Example: “He got a quare gunk when she told him she was leaving him.”

Gipe - Another word for an idiot. Not surprisingly there are a great many words for ‘idiot’ in Ballymena.

Hames - A mess.

Prugh - (noun) a mix of crisps, sweets or chocolate, usually eaten on the sofa in front of the TV on a Saturday night; (verb) to rummage or hoke through someone else’s stuff, often leaving a mess behind. Example: “Would you stop prughin’ through those CDs?”

Scunner - Used to describe someone whose very existence causes you deep seated personal offence. Scunnered - A state of depression.

Shem - Basically anyone. Can be dropped into conversation at any point without fear.

Stroke - To walk purposefully. Or, more commonly nowadays, to cheat. Example: If you were playing poker with a latchico there is a better than even chance that your will be ‘stroked.”

Truth - A lie. Example - if someone tells you that they have won the lottery (and you doubt their veracity), the automatic response of any self-respecting Ballymena person should be: “Truth.” This may be followed up with the nonsensical “Aye ye did.”

Wheek(er) - A unit of pressure. Example: “Thon Shem is tome at boxing. He hut thon cove a wheek dig.” Trans. “That fellow is a prime exponent of the noble art. He struck that other chap a blow of considerable force.”

Yordis - Mind-blowingly fantastic. A word which has fallen into disuse in recent times. Example: If your horse came up in the Grand National it would be “Yordis, shem.”

Related topics: