Meaning & use
faith and begorrah
Last updated
Meaning
interjectionfixed phrasehumorous
An old-fashioned exclamation of surprise or emphasis, now mainly used in jokes imitating an exaggerated Irish way of speaking.
Grammar: Stands alone at the start of a sentence: Faith and begorrah, it is raining again.
The actor cried, faith and begorrah, in a deliberately silly accent.
Faith and begorrah, look at the size of that cake, he joked.
Some old films have characters saying faith and begorrah, which Irish viewers find a cliché.
Common combinations
- say faith and begorrah
- He said faith and begorrah as a joke on Saint Patrick's Day.
- a stage Irish faith and begorrah
- The script was full of stage Irish phrases like faith and begorrah.
- cry faith and begorrah
- The comic cried faith and begorrah in his sketch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- goodness me
- This is a mild, neutral way to show surprise and does not imitate any accent.
- by golly
- This is a similar old-fashioned exclamation, but it is not tied to Irish speech.
Word family
- begorra interjection
- a variant spelling of begorrah
- begorrah interjection
- a mild oath, from by God
Practice
Why should a speaker be careful when using faith and begorrah?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is a stereotyped imitation, so it may offend. It is not an insult word, a legal term or a farewell.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “faith and begorrah”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.