Tuesday, March 10, 2009

word of the day

Today's word is cringey. It's Irish English for things that make you want to cringe. I heard a bloke from an Irish band use that word on the radio the other day. He was describing Irish pubs in America and why he never goes in them. They, the pubs, were cringey, what with their plastic leperchauns and shillelaghs and all that oragh-beggoragh (however that's spelt). So ... cringey. Use it in a sentence today. It would be fair, I think, to use it also to describe a person or creature that cringes a lot. For full doublemeaning value, there's this: "I don't like your dog because he's cringey." Does that mean I don't like your dog because he is an untrustworthy cowardly skulking butt-biting beast or because he's a flea-bitten mangy flatulent cur with breath that curls me up like a pillbug at three paces ... or both? No, I am not talking about anybody's dog in particular. The Fujiko Farm dog, Sophie, is a wee bit nervous and cringey but on the whole she's a good dog and her breath is in the normal range for dogbreath.

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