THE WORD 'Gobshite' has appeared in The New York Times for the first time ever, and Irish people are absolutely buzzing about it.
What is an everyday word for Irish people, appearing in the colloquial Irish dictionary of insults between 'fecker' and 'gowl', gobshite is lesser-known overseas-- although it did gain some popularity thanks to Father Ted.
Now, for the first time in its 150-year history, 'Gobshite' has been printed in the New York Times.
How do we know it's the first time? Well, there's a handy Twitter account dedicated to announcing when a word has been printed in the iconic newspaper for the first time, and while we're not sure why this account exists, we're very happy that it does.
gobshite
— New New York Times (@NYT_first_said) June 23, 2020
The word appeared after the paper printed an excerpt from Roddy Doyle's novel Love-- and as anyone who's read anything from the Dublin novelist will know, his use of language is as colourful as it is Irish.
The offending passage, which appears in the excerpt, is "-I got to meet the maths teacher, he said. - A gobshite, by the way."
Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain shared the news on his Twitter page, stating "What a day for Ireland! The word 'Gobshite' has made its debut in the New York Times.
"Geebag must surely be next."
Jarlath Regan, meanwhile, took the opportunity to share a clip from a recent live show in which he brilliantly details the very important difference between 'Eejit' and 'Gobshite'-- you can check that out below.
Today was the first day The New York Times used the word “Gobshite”. The time has come for us all to recognise and discuss the subtle differences between an eejit and a gobshite. pic.twitter.com/leJhDkEQ4Q
— Jarlath Regan (@Jarlath) June 23, 2020
It's not the first time the word has been heard internationally in unusual circumstances: in February, Irish MEP Mick Wallace was reprimanded for calling a fellow politician "an unelected gobshite" in the European Parliament.
He was immediately reprimanded, as a translation in his earpiece stated:
"Now, you did use the word 'gobshite', sir. And I would reprimand you over that."
For a countdown of 10 of the best Irish insults, including the now-iconic Gobshite, you can check our list here.
