My yesterday:
The Irish are upset because the Aussie doesn’t care they exist or have a country.
The English Northerners are perturbed by the absence of twat and think the guy sounds too posh. I added nonce, which made them laugh, and apparently they do go around calling each other that.
The Irish are upset.
Someone couldn’t count the people in the room.
The Irish are still upset. They are not letting this go.
Gordon was born out of wedlock. His biological father’s name last name was Moynihan. (Yes, the name in KD was on purpose. No, he did not look like that. We only found out what he looked like in 2019.) Gordon’s father was born in US but the best we can figure out from family records and genetic research, Gordon’s grandparents emigrated from County Cork. His father married an Irish woman in US. According to 23&Me, on Gordon’s mother’s side, his family is from Greater London, but they travelled to US long ago.
I always thought that Gordon was naturally stubborn, but now I know. It’s the Irish blood. 😛
And yes, that makes the kids part-Irish part-Russian, which is a hell of a combo.
Anyway, there will be characters in the narrative who will say offensive things. They are not doing it because their creators lack the understanding of basic geography, but because their job is to be bad characters. If they don’t do anything bad, why would anyone want them to go down in flames?
It was meant to be a nuanced insult. Of course, the Aussie knows where Ireland is. He is demonstrating that he doesn’t care. He is being disdainful. Most of the time, when you see a Brit and and Aussie together in fiction, they are assigned roles: a stereotypical Aussie who speaks broad and an English gentleman who has refined manners. Here the roles are reversed to demonstrate that snootiness is universal. If I had a dollar for every time I explained to someone that a particular celebrity or athlete is Ukrainian and not Russian and been told that Russia, Ukraine, it’s all the same thing, my yarn collection would be a lot bigger.
So we have now attached a big old neon sign to that conversation – because clearly nuance ain’t cutting it. It’s that or I might really have to sink the Éire into the deep blue sea and I have a feeling Gordon wouldn’t like that. We have yet to visit it. A man should know where he comes from.
And I will have to find some way to add more twats.
This post is tongue in cheek. It is meant for your amusement. I know some of you are about to go into the comments and tell me that you don’t understand why people complain about snippets and pick fights with other commenters. I see your hand twitching for that keyboard. Don’t do it. The Irish are fierce and patriotic, there are many reasons why they are protective of their country, and the world is better for Ireland being here.
There are all sorts of people who live in countries with combined population of over 30million, there are going to twats, nonces, posh people and snooty people of every variety. ????????♀️
Always said morons know no flags
I always tell people that 1/2 the people you know are below average.
~\^^/~
Haha your posts always entertain. But that snippet…sooo much fun! I can’t wait for Ruby Fever! I think almost every time I post I mention how much I love Catalina and Alessandro so let’s not break a tradition. I LOVE them and Alessandro makes me smile every time he opens his mouth 🙂 Their flirting is so adorable.
I highly recommend a visit to Ireland. It’s beautiful and friendly and one of my favourite places to travel. The cider is also excellent!
Yep, second that. Had lots of wonderful holidays there!
Hahaha…???? You got me, Ilona
We are indeed a stubborn and sensitive lot.
What fun in your household?!
This is how I read characters :). You’re on a roll and I love it. The happy tone on this made me smile. Great way to start the morning.
Ohhh I second this. my favourite part of this was the tongue in cheek good humoured vibe of it all. I love to see House Andrews thriving and happy, so I live for this sort of thing
I’m Irish, I love this post, it made me lol. Helluva combination for sure.
I realise I’m one of the Irish who got a (tinsy bit?) upset yesterday???? I’m blaming the summer heat stripping away my reading comprehension abilities.
This post made me absolutely cackle???? Once again, House Andrews proving why you’re my absolute favourite authors ???? Always bringing joy to my day!
???? This was funny. Also the part-Irish part-Russian kids should star in a mob movie. It seems they are born for it.
Wonderful! You always perk up my day! Thank you for all you both do. I enjoy everything you write and await each with joy and anticipation.
I love Ireland. A year and a half ago my son, whose late father had been a Dubliner, visited there for our birthdays. I’d been there before and want to go again. One of my grandfathers was Irish. There’s a beauty in the country that is unique. I do recommend the brown bread. I have been trying to re-create it unsuccessfully.
Ireland, Scotland, and Greece are the 3 countries I want to go see.
Wr have a code at work for when we think someone is being a twat and we want to call them a twatbut we will be in trouble if we do call them twats. It works really well when they are arguing and not lkstening and being all kinds of wrong… We just say ‘there we are then’ end the argument/ conversation.. Ok so it is not a hard code to work out but we have literaaly been doing this for gears and no one has sussed…
+1
Definitely borrowing this, and I’m from the USA. We also call people “Richard’s” when appropriate…
My coworkers have resorted to nicknames. Anita Pill. Someone else is referred to as Kardashian. Can’t think of the others, but the Anita Pill one is my favorite.
Love “twatbut”. Beautiful insult.
“There we are then.”
I ❤️ this.
As a Norwegian I sympathize in regards to the Ukraine/Russia discussion. I once visited the Norway pavilion at Disney World and listened to an American tell the hostess – quite condescendingly – that they should have called the pavilion the Sweden pavilion since Oslo was the capital of Sweden. So yeah, had that problem before, too…
Bwah ha ha. There are so many other things to fight about in my mind rather than something my favorite authors have written. Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post and the snippet. I just think we should all agree to disagree as it’s not truly a matter of life and death. As an example, My former violence prone illegal drug dealing /drug using illegally minded neighbors who are presently guests of the state are a different more deadly situation where I have definite ideas.
As a Family Historian, I can say my ancestry is Irish- English-Anglo Saxon …. Or majority European . ????.
My sperm donor infected me with 49% West Dingle Peninsula. This added insult to injury since I didn’t get any of my beloved nan’s Yorkshire DNA (and now have the least actual English blood between me and my mixed race brothers. If only we could travel back to the racists of our childhood and rub that in their ignorant faces – science rules fools!)
Especially since my uncle and cousins whom I actually know and love are from Shannon. So not even the right bit of Ireland to be from.
As for Irish/Northern Irish/English relations. . . Yeah.
You don’t know a pub fight til you’ve been in an Irish pub in London for a very mixed family christening in the late 1980’s. It still sets the standard for me and I was all of 8 years old. No other fight (believe me there were some good ones) ever compared. And we were all Catholic background (except now we know we’re actually Jewish) so didn’t event have Protestant angles to add to the argument!
Take this scenario in the Irish pub in London and add in a football game and all is lost. I’m a Brit expat living in Boston and even the Irish Pubs here get feisty when the English show up!
“ And we were all Catholic background (except now we know we’re actually Jewish)”
Wait ——- what?!
I’m sure congratulations are in order, but the story behind that must be a doozy!
I admit to being guilty about the Russian/Ukrainian difference. When my youngest said he wanted to go to Ukraine to learn the language I said “What. You already speak Russian.” After he recovered from the spasm of eye rolling he explained it to me. I was embarrassed at my lack of knowledge. I love it that my kids are teaching me stuff now! Thanks for all your posts. They make my day.
Hey, you write FICTION. We read it as FICTION. If we can swallow all the magic and the nuances of people using magic both for good and for ill, we can swallow pretty much anything.
The good, the bad, and the ugly all live in all countries. It’s high time we all got past that and relaxed about it. I loved the first chapter of Ruby Fever. Don’t cave in. This whole issue of racial stereotypes is for the birds. We’re all just people.
Tongue in cheek or not, you made some very good points in this post. And yes, I did laugh.
More twats! Wheeeeeeee!!!
I know that stubborn.
I was married to a man named Patrick, for his Irish great grandfather, for 47 years. (I’d still be married to him if he hadn’t died 5 years ago.)
In spite of a very Scottish last name, there was a fair amount of German in his ancestry – more stubborn.
My own ancestry is assorted British – English, Scots, and Welsh as far back as I can easily check, though the first of them emigrated about 20 years after the Pilgrims got here.
Boy are our kids stubborn. I have *no* idea where they could have gotten it…
People hear my Caribbean accent and assume Jamaica or Barbados. When I correct them nope Trinidad and Tobago, I often get “isnt it all the same?”
Ive learned to laugh but Ive said it so much the 7 yr old can now answer no, and point out on the map where these different countries are. Sigh.
Hopefully for all of the characters in the HL world, you won’t have to sink Ireland. It would be a shame for them to miss out on it. And the colcannon! One of my favorites, with bacon (don’t hate, I’m from the Midwest where everything is better with bacon). ????????????
Hhmm bacon…., that along with chocolate and Grey Goose make up my 3 favorite food groups….BCG baybee!!!????????????
BCG is the name of a vaccine against tuberculosis that we were injected with in school … so it doesn’t have quite that happy feeling for me!
Funny post, thanks!
I really thought the exchange was mildly amusing, snarky between two not nice people who nevertheless trust each other at a fundamental level.
Overall, the historical world building bits have been fascinating in all your books. Lots of thought behind it!
Omg of course Russia and the Ukraine are not the same! So sorry!
Irish Alzheimers: you only remember the grudges. This from Having an Irish maternal grandmother and a husband with a 1/2 Irish father. My DH says remembering the grudges and stubbornness is in the DNA. I would love to visit Ireland some day. All I ever saw of it was the water around the ship I was on in Cobh in co. Cork where my grandmother is from.
As for the “out of wedlock” bit, he is in great company with all the rock and movie star children. No biggy these days, and many kids are better off without a “bad” parent. Who’s checking, anyway?
It’s interesting that so many ultra religious folk conveniently forget the “Do unto others …” and “Judge not…” biblical admonishments.
Slàinte.
Ooooh. I feel like, as an Italian American, a related strain – Italian Alzheimer’s – DEFINITELY runs in my family.
Only remember the grudges. That’s exactly right. Oy!
Well. While we’re all putting our tuppence-worth in, in my experience Brits are more likely to say, “Fuck off” than “Fuck you.” (Source: I am British and grew up in a place where everyone says “fuck” a fuck of a lot.) “Up yours,” is also rather popular, as in, “Up yours, you wanker!” but if we’re having a “fuck” in there I’d still say, “Fuck off.” (In fact I rather like, ‘“Fuck off, you wanker,” the Brit snarled’, but I am having a bit too much fun swearing now, so I’ll stop.)
Yes! This!
And to make it Aussie, fuck off you bloody bastard.
I love all the keen cultural insights we get reading this blog. ????
Cheers!
This made me laugh out loud. I woke the cat.
Soo correct!!. I always find the posh, prude and polite English stereotype incredibly funny as In reality we’re all crude assholes ????????
Okay I’m going to leave an entirely appropriate comment that should meet all PC concerns.
Thank you for stimulating our minds, refreshing our spirits, and basically making us use our brains as well as our ability to empathize in order to fully understand your writings.
You know the Australian’s wouldn’t mind the use of the “Aussie Bastard” there are over 100 ways to use the word Bastard. It is all in the infection, tone and who you are talking to.
Hey my MUM was a 10 Pound POM (Prisoner of Mother England) my dad’s side was a convict from Ireland.
Best times of my week was Poms night at a beyond the back pub in the middle of Subiaco, you had the English on one side Aussies on the other a piano man and singer up the front we would sing songs from both nations and in the intervals we would sing crap against each other. It was funny one time 6 marines showed up no idea how they found us and sang US Marine chant, we stopped looked at them and went back to our thing. Hey it was the 70’s
Bottom line Aussies don’t care who or what you are
Like that old cricket joke?
“When the English use the word ‘bastard’ they mean ‘bloody bastard’, so try to be more polite.”
Ah yes, the Irish… but if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap…. lol. I just think the red hair gene brought with it certain traits… trust me, my Scottish, Austrian-Italian, English, French, with just a hint of Miami tribe of Indiana family is completely psychotic…. lol
To be fair, the northerner does sound a bit posh. Pisshead is a drunk person and not really a general usage pejorative, more a descriptor
Cork is beautiful. You have got to go!
I understand how the Irish get perturbed when they get lumped in with the British (there is HISTORY there) but, despite a villainous character being disdainful and villainous, that chapter was a wonderful ambassador for Irish culture. Thank you so much for giving some exposure to a wonderful Irish song and performing group. I had never heard of the song Dúlamán or the group Altan before yesterday and I absolutely adore both. No telling what Amazon Music play statistics are going to look like by the end of the week, I’ve had it on near constant loop just in my house.
Same here! Love that sound. Can’t believe Enya sang in the Altan prior group for a bit. Two wonderful female voices!
Celtic Woman also has a nice rendition.
I love the comments and the post. I’m part Irish thanks to my mom’s family. My maternal grandfather was Irish. I’m also part German thanks to my dad’s entire family. My maternal grandmother’s family, I think, came from Wales. So, I have stubborn down to an art form. 😀
When I was in Massachusetts, my mom took me to both places she grew up in Worcester. We got looked at by the neighbors until we explained why we were there. Then they opened up and talked. When we left, I just laughed in the car.
I get it. My own family is Irish/Italian and my aunt traced our lineage back to the early 1600s in Galway County. Every woman in the family is stubborn as hell and is willing to say exactly what is on her mind. So, good luck with the Irish!
Oye! He said it because he’s a D1CK (or a twat-you decide)!
So, they got their ire up.
…I rish I hadn’t made that pun.
I admit to have been slow to understanding on Ukraine. I was mostly taught Russian history by Russians and Ukrainian history by GoldenEye. Then I spent a quarter (CA semester) and summer in Moscow. At that time (2004), the larger concern was Chechnya and how Moscow militsa treated brown people. This does not make for a comprehensive narrative of the region. Over the past 10 years, I’ve made a friend descended from Ukrainians and a Russian who was born in Eastern Ukraine. My understanding has gotten a little better, especially after the Ukrainian American went to Kyiv after the Revolution of Dignity.
Not sure what I mean to say with this, but you’ve made your knowledge base clear, and this was an attempt at support of nuance, because stuff is complicated.
Maybe have the Northumbrian call the Aussie a Kiwi afterward so you can embrace the nuance and make it clear to the audience that your characters are purposefully unreliable and bickering participants with an established relationship?
Loved the snippet, keep up the hard work and have a nice day!
I was fortunate enough to visit Ireland. A tour guide said something that has really stuck with me (part of my ancestry is also Irish…amongst many)…he said, “15 million Irish live in the United States. It is the ‘New Ireland'”….so welcome home Gordon!
Irish beer saved the world ????
God bless Guinness and Jameson’s!
Don’t forget Cork Dry Gin!
“… been told that Russia, Ukraine, it’s all the same thing …”
Aargh!! Being a Scot married to a Welshman and living in Wales, I sympathise. The number of non-Brits who seem to be under the impression that everything in Great Britain is ‘England’ is staggering , and even when you explain that calling Scots/Welsh people ‘English’ is really insulting, they just don’t get it ????
Kinda like when Australians call Americans Yanks. That can be a mortal insult to a Southerner. ????
Exactly! Bless their hearts.
Was I the only American that had to look up nonce? Seriously I’m well travelled and love how everyone differs, but that one in written format completely went over my head. Once I looked it up I had heard the term but no where in my logical brain does the verbal version of that word match the written…. lol …
Another American here that had to look it up. The funny thing is that I occasionally use the word in the phrase “for the nonce”, meaning “for the moment” or “just this once”. Had no idea it could be a pejorative until I saw it used in this context.
Me too
Me too!
I just love to hear them talk or sing the accent gets me every time.
Lol well there’s never a lack of passion here. ????????
If you haven’t ever called a Ukrainian or Moldovan a Russian and gotten a lecture… who are you? Not me that’s for sure. (His name was Artem!)
Just my opinion, but characters demonstrating the sorts of snarky views that you hear in real life (isn’t Aussie – UK rivalry notorious?!) and regional language (which is rampant across the UK and Eire) makes them more believable.
Your attention to details like these makes your books so awesome!
On the thread of national generalisation; how many times since you came to the US have you been asked if you know ‘insert first name’ who lives in Moscow or other very large Russian city? When I used to visit the US someone would always ask if I knew Dave from London, or Sarah from Manchester (many other cities and first names are available), and it always amused me! Funnily enough, not one so far.
While living in NYC a coworker went to an International Food Festival during lunch. She came back to work + told me she went up to the Irish stand and said, “Do you know ‘insert my name’?
I rolled my eyes at her innocence thinking that we all knew each other …
Then she said they did know me!
I had to laugh????????????
They did. I worked in their hotel one summer, my husband is from that area, we now live 10 minutes away from them … and they’re 3rd cousins ????
How small is this world ❤
Of course Russia and Ukraine are different. I remember a woman being shocked a few years ago when I mentioned her Ukrainian surname. My son’s father was born in the US of Ukrainian immigrants. Great podt. Made me smile.
As a US Latina. I kinda a get it because we go through similar situations. But I enjoyed the snippet. ☺️
To my Irish brethren – ah lads!!! ????
We have paragraphs as gaeilge going to be in Ruby Fever from our best authors!!
Laugh as intended because as we love to say ‘it’d be rude not ta’ ????????????
We owe you a fair few pints if you’re ever in Ireland House Andrews – it’s only fair.
Ah lads is right. Would yous ever give over. Baddies gonna be baaaad, and not necessarily politically correct.
And sure there’s more gaeilge in there than most of us use in a year; go raibh míle maith agaibh. Also, snippet!!! 🙂 much snippet joy and gratitude to you our Overlords of House Andrews. I second the invitation. The Irish chapter of the BDH welcomes House Andrews!
I picked up a greeting card several years ago. The outside image was a globe with faces representing many of the different world cultures. “People are the same the world over…”
On the inside: “Irritating.”
I think I’ve just found my new life motto! I legit LOLd.
Thanks for the smile.
+1. No matter where, people are people, good, bad and indifferent.
Both first generation Americans, my Swedish grandmother married a Norwegian. Uff dah!!! In Minnesota, they call us Scandahoovian because they don’t see a difference between Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch. Ask any of us and we know better. What a bunch of drittsikks. 75% Swede, 25% Norwegian
I loved it as not taking sides! Keep up the good work.
Hey,
I am Irish and loved the snippet!! I am half irish (from cork), half German and my grandfather would always I was stubborn enough for two worlds… usually when I was insisting that the gooseberries WERE ripe.. though they clearly never were!!
But honestly the snippet was great and so is this post!
Too funny! Loved the snippet and the comments.
Thank you for the info. This explains why my Irish descent friend/coworker is so stubborn – it’s in the genes.
Loved the snippet, as usual. The only thing I wanted to mention is that a nonce is a paedophile where I’m from in england (Yorkshire)…..
Same here (England/Derbyshire).
Ditto for Somerset.
Glad someone mentioned this. We consider this a term for a paedophile in London too. I think pretty much all of the UK does since they use it in TV crime/police dramas as a derogatory term in this sense don’t they? I would NEVER call someone that, as bad as or even worse than using c**t surely?
Speaking as a passionate, patriotic dual Irish-US citizen? I almost wrote in yesterday to thank you for having Catalina sing an Irish song IN Irish (an excellent choice for a song that needs to seep through shields, too, as it grows slowly). I wondered if Gordon might be part Irish or if you just liked the song, but didn’t want to intrude. The Aussie and the Brit? They were perfectly in character, to me at least. The nuance was clear. Please don’t toss the Irish part of the scene. But definitely and always: more twats!
I learned something today, thanks to you, because I was certain that the language of the song was Gaelic. Aha! The word for the Irish language — in the Irish language — is “Gaeilge.”
Ask any Irish schoolchild or adult in Ireland … the word for the Irish language in the Irish language is indeed ‘Gaeilge’ … the word for the Irish language in the English language is ‘Irish’.
No one says they study or speak the ‘Gaelic’ language ????
You will like Ireland.
My father’s people are Irish, and my mother’s people are of French descent. But we grew up on the north side of Chicago. And we are more Irish than the Irish, as everyone knows. Sounds like my standard advice for someone trying to decide if a person is Irish or English applies to guessing between Russian and Ukrainian. If you insist on naming a national group, for God’s sake choose Nigerian. If you guess wrong between those two, you endanger your life.
Thank you for yesterday’s post, which presumed that most of us are intelligent beings capable of understanding humor and nuance!
Love your books, cannot wait for the next publication, post, or snippet.
Hang in there
Lol Authors have to deal with some interesting situations ????
coming back from Canada through US customs in Cleveland…customs officer looks at my ID, presses the panic button. Guys with guns run out, supervisor runs out….Sir Delaware is not a state in the United States….Supervisor Sir we apologize. Lots of face palms in the line behind me.
America’s are non geographically discrementory…we don’t know any
I have several reasons for liking the Irish. One being they continue to refuse to rollover for the English, whom I also like. That Irish glare toward any perceived challengers is admirable. ????
Sorry i have a question totally unrelated to this post. Sorry! Not sure else how to submit it…Have you considered putting out hardcover commemorative editions of your books? I would love to get a complete hardcover set of the Kate Daniels series, for example, without having to hunt them down on eBay. If not, can you direct me to a place that might sell a complete set?
Hi Christine,
There are no hard covers for the first 6 Kate Daniels books. The first hardback is Magic Breaks.
🙂 I hope this helps.
OK thanks! Please let the Authorlords know that there is at least one BDH member that would jump at the chance to buy them in hardback if they ever come out with a complete set. 🙂
+1 hardcover boxed set. In pretty colours with bonus illustrations… 😉
There are too many twats in the world….. 😀
One of my favourite scenes in The Replacements (Keanu Reeves movie) has exactly this argument where the Welshman kicker insists Korean or Japanese is all the same, and then someone calls him English. Full Donnybrook!
Love that movie!
Especially the singing in jail scene!
I’m Irish, Scottish, Cajun, with a little Mi’kMa’q Native thrown in from way back… or as my mom says, not a single passive bone in my body. I see your stubborn and raise you a glass. Sláinte.
Scottish, Irish, German , and Mohawk LOL am a chem prof , well know area for stubborn, as is my daughter. A health to the company!
Irish are fierce, devoted, generous and oh so romantic! My Irish grandparents Elmer and Pearl married 1920. Pearl was Catholic and Elmer was a baptist. They dated for three weeks and Elmer proposed and they were married. The next time Pearl entered a Catholic church was on the day of her funeral 67 years later.
When Elmer neared his 100th birthday his youngest daughter asked what would he like to do. He told her that he didn’t want a big party or dinner with all the relatives. What he wanted was to visit all the places in Merced, CA where he courted my grandmother. So my aunt rented a limo and they spent the day visiting all the places Elmer and Pearl fell in love. My wonderful grandfather passed away two weeks later.
Irish – Devoted, fierce and oh so romantic!
Beautiful!!
Lol.
Am I the only one whose mind went ‘All my troubles seemed so far away????’ when I saw the title?????
I love you House Andrews.
That is all. That’s the comment.
+ 1 ❤❤❤ ????
Ancestry keeps adjusting my % of Irish form 82-96%. So I resemble all your remarks.
Thanks for making me laugh.
Genetic tests are interesting..I’ve always been told I’m half Irish half Italian. Get the test back..mostly Scottish with a touch of Italian. Huh? Wow..oh that explains so much! Unfortunately tracing the family lines are impossible..I was adopted and the building with the original paperwork burned down..but hey I’m Scottish!
don’t trust those DNA testing sites. In Canada, a consumer reporter and her identical twin sent saliva samples to five companies. They each got different results from different companies when they should have been identical because they are IDENTICAL TWINS. Idential DNA. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/dna-ancestry-kits-twins-marketplace-1.4980976
I was taught in basic biology that DNA ties you to people, not places. So you really may be half Irish/half Italian, a good combo (speaking as a Scot/Irish/Germanic combo)
I’m half Ukrainian. Yup, I’ve been fighting all my life to make all and sundry say “ oh, you’re not russian”. I continue with this dream.
Great post
I Don’t plan on using any of the DNA services. I do not want anyone to discover I serial killed anyone while sleep walking….
Hehehe, as a kiwi, that’s funny.
Also I’m part Irish, part English via Australia, part bunch of other stuff, do it’s really enjoyable.
My mom is 100% Ukrainian and my dad is half French and part English with a splash of welsh and Dutch. So I’m a mutt but with a strong Louisiana French and Ukrainian upbringing. Think stroganoff on Sunday and gumbo or red beans and rice another day!
It’s great that you took your time to address this issue.
I am an Indian. We always see in western shows about Indians getting stereotyped.
It used to offend me in the beginning but it doesn’t anymore.
Most of the times people are ignorant and have superiority complex. Especially the west.
My country has a population of more than 1 billion.
Think about what we would do if we start getting offended on small things
Excellent narrative as always. Thank you.
My hubs ancestry showed up 100% Irish. I’m more of a French and eastern European mix. Stubborn? Ha! As the day is long!
To quote a dear friend, ” They come by it honest. Blood will tell.”
Ironically the majority of my Irish genetic history comes from Australia via my maternal grandfather.
Tell them, Tabhair aire do do ghno fein.
As a family, you all rock. I am glad you can look at this with humor.
I knew there was something great about Gordon. 😀
We are Scots and Irish, a little Swiss-German and little Heinz-57. It’s hard to decide which bit contributes most to the stubborn hard-headedness in my family, but it makes for great arguing points. And some members (cough-not me) have it in spades. 🙂
My Gram would say, “I’m not stubborn, just set in my ways!” You can see what we were up against. Lol
German, Irish, and African American, but probably a little everything. You tell a wonderful story! I get it. I think? I find people’s history fascinating. That’s really interesting Gordon.
As an Aussie I reckon you nailed it. we can be pretty bloody offensive and often on purpose. I used to run a bar on a gold mine in “the outback” where we took the piss out of every nationality we could often by pretending we didn’t know where they were from or by telling stories about improbable creatures and trying to convince people they were real. (Hint drop bears aren’t real)
Says you…..
Drop bears are absolutely legit and can only be deterred by smearing vegemite on you face and exposed skin. Also the Yowi.
Now if you’re going to call the Aussie a Kiwi you should throw in something about sheep – all Kiwi’s love a good sheep joke…..and don’t forget the bro, as in “G’day bro!”
Speaking of the melting pot that is the world today thought you might like the new Russian sensation singing group the Australian “Fake Russian Men’s Choir” – not a one can speak Russian.
Bit of a laugh.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj-oO3cg_rwAhWsFLcAHYLwC7kQwqsBMAB6BAgIEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DVOg9o0oIars&usg=AOvVaw1e6Y4YYG9BtqokWjG1PLBA
That is fantastic! What a quirky fun story. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m from the Dakotas and people always screw that one up.
Love “twatbut”. Beautiful insult.
Lols
Possibly a repeat comment.
I’m here for the swears.
????
In the spirit of this post (which gave me my first chuckle of the day), I would like to ask what about New Zealand? It’s always Aussie this, Aussie that… Yeah sure, we’re smaller, colder and poorer, no one is actually sure where our country is on a map, and our accent makes us sound stupid (we do that on purpose to trick you) but we still deserve representation! Love, a Kiwi (with strong Irish and Scottish ancestry)
Yeah but you guys have JACINTA who is firetrucking AWSOME!!! Aussies are SO jealous….hmmm, (says Australia rubbing hands maniacally) maybe we could kidnap Jacinta
And one of the world’s best movie industry’s – Hunt for the Wilder People is one of my all time favourite movies, totally Kiwi – thank you Taika Waititi…..
+10,000 what Sydney Girl said 😀
And in opera-Kiri te Kanewa. I heard her sing once. gorgeous voice,
They can’t point to us on a map because half the time the bloody map makers leave us off! So yeah, nah, not gonna happen.
I think it’s the view of the USSR from Europe/USA, combined with the post-WW2 diaspora.
My Lithuanian grandad (Juozas) was referred to as Russian Joe by his neighbours. His friend Mietek was Polish Mike. They hung out together with a variety of Eastern European men who mainly shared Russian and English as common languages and were uniformly considered Russian by everyone else in the area.
My mum, aunt and uncles were all called commies (amongst other things) while growing up.
Geo-politically Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union as of course was Ukraine and many, many others.
It was taught in school that they were part of Russia and it’s as if that stuck so firmly in people’s heads that you can’t make them kick it loose.
I’m not sure how it was in other Soviet states or in the latter years of the Union, but I do know from the heavily censored letters from my great grandmother that made it to England from Siberia and those from when she was allowed back home, that to consider yourself NOT Russian, especially just after the war, was pretty dangerous. My grandad was terrified that we should ever visit his home country. He swore we should be English only.
So you have obsolete education, miseducation, propaganda, plain old ignorance, inference and maybe some ingrained fear all leading to a lot of assumptions on people’s parts that pretty much all of Eastern Europe is Russia.
It does get quite annoying but we should quietly persevere with the clarification.
Or we could just send them all to the vast country of Africa eh?????
(FYI, I know it’s a continent, I’m making a joke)
was the 23&Me an interesting experience? I have been thinking of doing it myself and see what my spit tells me about my family tree.
As an Aussie I loved that you didn’t try to give us the usual stereotype. We do have an old colonial upper crust set here that can be snooty when put upon.
Here’s a weird house for you, the Darth Vader house in Texas is selling for 4.3 million…
As an Aussie (at least three generations) who has an accent that is often mistaken for British (by other Aussies) and asked how long I’ve been living in Australia, I loved this. I’m also just happy that an Australian made it in in the first place, we are quite often left out of anything involving action or in this case bad guy roles but this made me laugh.
I keep seeing Guy Pierce as a bad guy these days. What is up with that?
If you are looking for Aussies in action roles, check out Matthew Reilly’s Jack West Books starting with Seven Ancient Wonders
I just absolutely love you! Your humor, your badass, your mother-style, your wife-ness, of course your writing, your empathy, your righteousness.. I could go on and on. Thanks for basically always putting a smile on my face!
+1000
Could not have said that any better. Love House Andrews and the joy and touchstones with reality they share with us.
Completely agree! Brilliant books, blog posts, snippets, short fiction.
Thank you both!!
My husband’s grandfather is from County Cork. We visited the whole of Ireland and the family homestead over ten years ago. What a beautiful green country and loveliest of people.
My husband’s great grandfather is from County Cork as well… almost a grantee they are related…hehehe.
I’m in the US, but have been blessed to to travel there twice. A wonderful place full of vibrant shades of green and wonderful people.
“It’s an allegory,” the Brit told him. “And Ireland is a separate country, you nonce. You say that to an Irishman, you’ll end up picking your teeth off the ground.”
Call a Ukrainian a Russian and you’ll be retrieving your head from the ground. Worse if you call a Croat a Serb.
Honestly, I laugh like an idiot every time you have to explain your humour. I can just hear the deep patient sigh that precedes it.
Heritage is a curious thing – I’m Aussie, descendant English/Scots on one side, and Scots/German on the other. My family is all about the beer, the tempers and the stubborn intractability of a thousand mules. Luckily I did not get the German skin tone, otherwise I’d have to immigrate or burst into flame every summer like an awkward vampire.
Ireland is one of my favourite places on the planet – it crawls into your soul and never quite lets you go, so I hope Gordon makes it there someday.
Hopefully before it sinks into the sea.
I’ve always figured your obnoxious characters are obnoxious to move the plot forward. They certainly succeeded very well in that snippet.
I loved it. Thank you!
Oh man. Country relationships for “they’re the same, I’m totally sure they’re the same!”. More like “It is complicated”. Even when you have a decent understanding of physical geography but were only taught a smidgen of the history or politics and all of it being from one viewpoint…
It is kind of silly when someone who doesn’t even have a fuzzy mental map of the region insists two places are the same to somewhere who lived there.
In the wake of the Joss incident and your frustrations there I politely but fervently ask that you not hate the Innkeeper universe. There’s so many more things I want to know! I love the characters, the stories, the banter, how you put a fantasy world in the middle of modern Earth (with Costco)! The knowledge each of the characters has and unique qualities they bring to solving the issues! How you demonstrate the important acceptance of diversity! Fire! How you show dealing with those who struggle with embracing diversity. How you incorporated the Edge! How tea (and certain other hot beverages) is the catalyst for thinking and dealing with internal strife!!
Seriously, I relate to Oro more strongly than I thought. I will remove my metaphorical clawed fists from the sky and plead to be many gods of The Innkeeper universe that their world will not end!!
I don’t think the Joss thing indicated that our hosts hate the Innkeeper series. But, I think we all agree more innkeeper would be good. Although one is loath to prioritise. Innkeeper, KD universe, Hidden legacy. Any, all are good with me. Just more!
All of this has made me smile. Yeah, where would we be without Ireland and the Irish? Thank you for t to ge snippet snd smile.
My father knew a man, a very good friend of his, that was Irish-born; second generation Irish-American. Good people, hard workers and much like mules.
That fellow married a second generation Dutch woman; beautiful, strong and stubborn as he.
The mother-in-law moved in with them after her husband passed away and the daughter cared for her. She was an ever bigger ass than her son-in-law.
The pair had a son that was as fair as the summer’s breeze and absorbed everything they taught him. He knew Gaelic and high German. But nothing held his eye better than the father.
One day, the mother-in-law stormed off and carried her daughter out of the house with her. Outraged, the matron complained of what she heard her angelic grandson sing while playing.
“…the Irish and the Dutch, they don’t amount to much!
But the Irish are much better than the got damd Dutch!”
The marriage survived but the mother-in-law was given her own place to live, in the cottage built behind the home.
I’m just wondering if you know exactly what Twat and Nonce mean?
On top of reader feedback, comments and research, there were 5 other Mancunian/Greater Manchester/Northern proofreaders who provided support and suggestions.
???? Yes, House Andrews are aware.
To us in the U.K. I should say
I know they do huge amounts of research and obviously an evil man isn’t going to say sweet and lovely expressions so perfectly in keeping with the characters- just slightly taken aback at 6am and just getting up here in England ????
I am in England too :), for what it’s worth, and know my way around a curse or two. I just chose not to observe the time zone hehe.
Loved the snippet!
As an Aussie, I’ve gotta say there are heaps of Irish here, incl my hubby’s ancestors 🙂 And loved the Aussie being snooty, heaps of fun 😀
Lovely. I loved the snippet, and now I’m getting even more enjoyment from it. I’m sitting here giggling, er, chuckling over folks getting all worked up over the words of fictional characters.
On my father’s side I have roots going back to Ireland, and clan Carroll, but 23 & Me shows more London. But they make it clear that what they have is strictly due to the data they get today, and many Irish moved to England. I’m told there are families that have been there for generations and still consider themselves Irish.
As an aside, I became a fan of Irish/Celtic music long before I knew I had real roots there.
Hahaha!! Reminds me of my travels in North America. I’m Swiss and I got so used to people confusing Sweden and Switzerland. I’m not even mad cos Switzerland is tiny! But there were some really funny conversations…
I’m Irish, I enjoyed the snippet… you know what they say “If they can’t take a joke…”
Love getting these snippets and can’t wait to read just about anything you write! Thank you!
Am I the only one who when reading Ilona’s statement that she’s going to add more twats to consider that it sounds like we need to play ‘spot the twat’ whilst reading Ruby Fever?
Maybe, in honour of this discussion, with Guinness or Irish Whiskey? (Or listening to a Gaelic song if you don’t like drinking/not allowed to drink etc.)
Spot the twat ???
Bahahaha
????
I’m enjoying the snippet. And no one said that the world of Hidden Legacy was the same as ours. Remember Leon’s Osiris serum high school project? And Russia remains Imperial. Lots of little differences – and some big ones, the USA at war with Mexico etc…
Upper class Aussie?
Now I know it’s fiction 😛
Easiest way to tell the difference between Kiwi’s and Aussie’s?
The Kiwi’s win when they play rugby.
*dangles the bait.
That’s ok we invented the Pavlova!
Sweet!
It’s great to know where your from … but much better to know in the moment who you are and what you believe in now .
Take care …Love the castle!
Drinking while reading Ilona’s posts is a dangerous game, sometimes you swallow, sometimes you snort your tea.
When I say I am Romanian the first thing they always ask me is if I speak Russian. I mean I would love to but sadly no. For most Western countries Eastern Europe is just a giant block with Russia stamped on it.
I understand why the Irish are annoyed, a lot of us Europeans are insanely proud of our tiny (in some cases) bit of land. I guess it comes from having to fight off a lot of the neighbors to be allowed to have it.
My only comment is….
🙂
Irish and anything else is a hell of a combination. Even if, God forbid, they are Irish from Eire and an “Orangeman” (or woman).
Yes, I get why they would be offended… but as you said these are characters and sccording to what they say qhat can see their personality.
My father emigrated from Holywood, North Ireland when he was a baby. This means I am an automatic Irish citizen. I have both a US and Irish passport – just in case 🙂
For genealogy, you have a bit of an easier time of it being in the Republic of Ireland as opposed to Northern Ireland. There, all the records are kept in churches and most of the records are not centralized.
If you ever need pointers on navigating the Irish databases and finding ancestors, I would be happy to help!
“And yes, that makes the kids part-Irish part-Russian, which is a hell of a combo.”
Potatoes and vodka. Potato vodka. There you go.
THEY SHALL PERSEVERE!!!
^aka poitín
Nice castle! I’d like one like that.
I’m proud of my Irish ancestors who had the guts to emigrate in the 1700s.
So, I, as a german, havn’t got any of the subtle dialect or ignorance things you mentioned in that snippet. May be a bit of of ignornance of mine as well, but obliviously it’s always easier to do so, if the language is your mother tongue or you are even living in one of the countries. And I guess, we won’t be able to still get this subtle things out of the text, when it’s translated to our language. What a pity!
Anyway, I love that you kind of reversed the stereotypes. I appreciate less characters who follow every stereotype in books very much. You see more about the diversity of the world. And, of course, it makes you laugh more and you know less about the characters and the ending of the story 😉
Everyone should be proud of both the country they live in, and their heritage.
I am Welsh and German by decent, but my Welsh came here before the Revolutionary war.
My German dad was 3rd generation American, and didn’t speak much German. His parents and grandparents were fluent, and he spoke it as a child, but as an adult it only came out when he was mad. If you ask me a German word I won’t know it, but when I am mad I say quite a lot of German sentences and know what they mean at the time.
I loved the part of your snippet where Catalina said the song was about Seaweed. Nothing more. I thought it added just the right touch of character.
May words flow easily and brilliantly from head to page for you.
Yes, both Ireland and Wales are on my bucket list. I think you will enjoy them, too. Lol no Texas pine trees.
lmao, I have Irish blood, and can confirm – the stubbornness is LEGENDARY.
In an unrelated note, I learned how to say “twat waffle” in ASL, and as a 38 year old woman I am so ridiculously pleased with my new vocabulary sign.
Did you know that when a million Irish were starving to death during the Potato famine, the English Parliament discussed perhaps sending them some food. Some one stated “If you send them food, they’ll just have more babies.”
The Jim Crow laws were copied from what the English did to the Irish over a period of about 200 years, ending in the late 1800s.
So the Irish are stubborn? That explains a lot about my mom and I!!!