• Langer

    Pronunciation

    • Ireland IPA: /ˈlæŋəɹ/
    • Rhymes: -æŋə(r)
    • Homophones: Langer

    Origin

    Uncertain. Suggestions include:

    • from langur monkeys, via the regiment stationed in India
    • from languor
    • from lang, variant of long
    • from "on the lang", supposed variant of on the lam
    • from leangaire, a word in Cnósach Focal ó Bhaile Bhúirne, a dictionary of the Muskerry Gaeltacht. It means an unusually long slender salmon.

    Full definition of langer

    Noun

    langer

    (plural langers)
    1. (slang, Ireland, pejorative) Fool; idiot; annoying or contemptible person (usually male).
      • 1996, Enda Walsh, Disco Pigs, ISBN 1854593986, p. 8:"Give it up will ya! get a job, ja langer!"
      • 2006, September 3, Brendan O'Connor Roy: the discreet object of our desire, Irish Independent:And central to it all is wind-up, making a langer out of people, to use that now unfortunate word that can still only be used correctly and said correctly by Cork people, even though the rest of the country has taken to it with gusto, embarrassing themselves like white people trying to talk black slang to be "street".
      • 2006 November 22, Hurling abuse when there’s no team in sight, Irish Independent:"Langers boy, every wan of ‘em. Golfers are only langers. They’re only golfing cos they can’t hurl. Anyone that golfs in Cork is only a failed hurler and a langer, boy. "
    2. (slang, Ireland, vulgar) Penis.
      • Eoin Colfer, "Taking on PJ" in Dublin Noir: The Celtic Tiger Vs. the Ugly American, ed. Ken Bruen, p.23, ISBN 1888451920:Mike opened his knees wide, so that his langer would be framed by the gap between his legs. For first impressions a boner would have been good, but not likely.
      • Fergal Keane, All of These People: A Memoir, p.88, ISBN 0007176929:He showed me a photograph. There was a woman and a man doing something, but I wasn't sure what. The man was standing over the woman holding his langer (the Cork word) and she was looking up at him smiling. I felt ill and started to walk backwards.

    Usage notes

    Originally and mainly restricted to County Cork

    Synonyms

    © Wiktionary