What it means
In Irish English, savage is a big everyday hype word for something seriously good, class, or unreal. You’ll hear it about a match, a night out, a feed, a tune, even a bit of weather that finally stops acting miserable. It still keeps its usual English meaning of brutal or nasty too, so the vibe hangs on context.
Usage examples
"That match was savage, lads. We were roaring in the pub, then the manager bought a round and the whole place erupted."
"That All-Ireland Final match at Croke Park last September was absolutely savage from the first whistle to the last point of the closing minutes, lads, we were roaring at the screen in the back room of the pub on Camden Street in Dublin, then the manager bought a round of pints for the whole back room and the entire place erupted in song before the final minute of injury time."
"The wedding of my cousin Sinead from Galway at the country house hotel in Connemara on Friday afternoon of the May long weekend was savage altogether from the welcome drinks at the door to the band of the third set of the evening, the bride wore her grandmother's dress of the nineteen fifties from Donegal, the speeches by the brother of the groom had the entire ballroom in stitches before the dessert course."
"That chipper after the pints was savage, I’m still thinking about those curry chips."
"She got two tickets last minute for the gig? Savage stuff altogether."
Where it comes from
It starts in standard English as savage, meaning wild or brutal. In Irish English, especially by the late 20th century, it got flipped into a strong bit of praise for anything brilliant or seriously enjoyable. By the 1990s it was everywhere in casual Irish chat, from sport to nights out to food.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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