Curated Tumblr @sh.itjust.works irelephant [he/him]🍭 @lemm.ee 2mo ago

Ireland

This is honestly too long to write an alt text for, sorry.

56 comments

These are hilarious, but I don't think I'd survive in a country where the national sport is trolling.
- They call it banter rather than trolling, but yes.
- My family is like this. All we do is make fun of each other. It's kept mostly internal (including close family friends) but that's how we show love.
  
  I still dress like a ranch hand about a quarter of the time even though I'm only out there to lend a hand once in a while. I showed up at my parent's place while my siblings were in town while I was wearing my boots and a pearl snap shirt. In our group chat my dad still asks "Hey Cowboy, did ya yee any haws today?" and that's been over a year.
  
  My family is like this. All we do is make fun of each other. It’s kept mostly internal (including close family friends) but that’s how we show love.
  
  Oof, my mom is like this. My entire childhood was: bullying at school, bullying on the playground, then coming home to mom making jokes at my expense while telling me to "learn to laugh at myself" when I got upset because her words sounded exactly like what bullies would say.
  
  It's one thing to poke fun at friends and peers who share your humor, but I hope adults recognize that kids are still developing their senses of self, and stuff like this can fuck them (and their relationships with their parents) up for life.
The spaceship one was brutal.
- At the same time, that's one of the easiest ones to throw a funny response back
  
  Played well, this could be a free pass for all the other times the person is late.
  
  Next time they are late they can put on the silver jacket, enter the classroom with a space related excuse:
  
  Sorry, the traffic was awful on the asteroid belt
  
  My comet was delayed
  
  A gravitational anomaly threw me out of the solar system, it took me forever to come back
  
  ....
  
  I'd be laughing too hard to even think of a comeback
This sounds like a magical place.
This kinda makes me want to go live in Ireland lol
It’s nice to hear some witty and lighthearted ones because we do have a problem with that kind of thing straying into the territory of abuse and bullying.
- The line between banter and bullying can be pretty simple: does the target find it funny, and can you take back what you dish out?
  
  Yeah, but you never know how the targez takes it, so there is a risk. Personal I think a bit of banter is good for the mood, but you have to make it 1000% clear that you are making light hearted fun. Which isn't always easy.
We call this "cutting tall poppies" in Australia.

I've always appreciated this story as an explanation for anyone who finds the concept foreign.

https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/editors_pick/1969_12_pick.html
- Tall poppies is about criticising people who are boastful and self-aggrandising, not mocking people for wearing clothes they like.
  
  (Your link doesn't load for me so I don't know if it directly contradicts me, my statement is based on my local understanding with confirmation from Wikipedia)
  
  I think it could be argued that wearing ostentatious and expensive clothes is a type of self-aggrandisement. Wear something flashy into any local pub in country NSW and you'd get the exact same reaction as above.
- "The nail that sticks out the most get's hammered first"
- Sounds about right. If there is one thing that'll get you taken the piss out of, it's trying to think you're special. Dear gods you can't live in Ireland without a thick skin or a sense of banter. I do miss it dearly.
- Crab bucket
  
  I'd say it's a different set of values but maybe that's just my cultural perspective.
  
  Tall Poppy is more about egalitarianism and modesty, where standing out or flaunting status too much is discouraged.
  
  Whereas crab bucket is seen as being rooted in envy, jealousy, or a fear of losing status or position.
These are great, I want more. The communion card was especially brutal.
- I loved this one 🤣🤣🤣
Turns out Derry Girls was an accurate portrayal of the Irish.
- As an irish person (as in, born, raised and currently live in ireland), it is.
  
  It's a shame Americans think they're Irish and you have to clarify yourself.
Twitter screenshots and a tumblr user celebrating that people get made fun of for trying to be a little fashionable. This kinda sucks ...
- Don’t ever be around Irish people, dude. With that attitude you’ll have a bad time.
  
  It’s almost always done in a friendly way. The Irish just can’t stand someone putting on airs and will take them down a peg for any reason presented but it’s rarely malicious.
  
  Yeah all of those are definitely ones to be laughed along with, not stabs. I've been the recipient of a few bangers like that in my time and honestly really enjoy them.
  
  I'd say the spaceship one in front of a crowded room of students stung a bit though even if the recipient was able to laugh along.
  
  If I went to Ireland and they started giving me trash about my style, I would not know how to respond, but I'm sure I'd be laughing the entire time lmao
- Have a little fun mate. Not everyone is super conscious or insecure.
  
  You're welcome! I took all of the insecurities so others don't have to!
  
  I used to be really into mutual ribbing-based humor. What I learned was that it's pretty fun, until you misjudge the situation. IMO it's not worth it overall.
- If you think that's bad, try living in Ireland. I like it here 😆
i dont get the chilli one

edit: thanks everyone for explaining! not sure how i couldnt get chili con carne 😂
- It's a pun for chili con carne.
- Chili con Carne is a way I've heard in 'tex-mex' (Texas mexican American cuisine) that's essentially Spanish for 'Chili, with meat'
  
  I am a mexican, I speak spanish, and was completely unable to get the joke smh
- The dad's name is Con Kearney which is similar to 'con Carne', as in 'Chili con Carne'. I guess that dish is popular over there?
  
  It's like the one Mexican dish we know in Europe. You can order nachos or tacos at some places but they're so far removed from the real deal it's a crime to call it Mexican.
Can someone explain the nike jacket one at the end?
- Vintage = old
- https://duckduckgo.com/?q=80s+sports+jacket&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images
  
  Probably looked something like one of these
OK these are amazing. I lol'd more than once!
Sadly, a big part of these (admittedly clever and funny) put-downs is to enforce conformity. Makes it hard to have some degree of self-expression when you know you're going to face ridicule for the smallest thing.

56 comments