Mr. Italo’s daughter, Caryna, lives in Ireland. Every time she returns to Canada for family events I detect just a little more Irish in her vocabulary and accent. I like it….very melodic; there are some accents that one just shouldn’t add to one’s speech…..German for example (I speak German, BTW, so no slight intended).
Caryna is kindly handling a transaction for me through Ireland. An Australian vendor won’t ship to North America, but will ship to Ireland, so she’s acting as the intermediary in forwarding the package to me. I placed the order with the vendor two months ago and still no sign of it. The first time I contacted them via email….no response. The second time, they did email, but suggested that the Irish Post Office might be holding the order. I conveyed the information to Caryna, who after checking with the post office, wrote to me:
“These guys sound like messers…”
I asked her if this was an Irish expression and she pointed me to the Urban Dictionary (a collection of urban slang), who define it thus:
“Irish slang for a sloppy or messy person; someone who fails to take things seriously; a hopeless amateur.
Him: I’ve made us dinner, except the steak is burnt and the potato is cold and the gravy tastes like washing-up liquid. Hope you don’t mind”.
I love it. What a great way of describing people who are well-intentioned, but incompetent. They want to do something, but fail to bring the knowledge, training, passion, or discipline to getting the job right. I guess we’re all messers at some things. For me, it’s house renovations: A hopelessly entrenched and unrepentant messer. “If it’s not in the Yellow Pages, it can’ be done”.
