Yes indeed! That really caught me off guard, because a book I read on traveling in Ireland with children cautioned parents to tell their children to watch their language, lest they shock the locals (something tells me they got that bit backward!).

Redwolf

Don't offer someone a "ride" -- that's a euphemism for sex.

A cafe inside a company facility that caters to the employees is called a canteen. (I don't know what the thing you drink out of when camping is called!)

For some reason, laundry detergent over here doesn't usually say "laundry detergent" or anything like that; it just has the name of the product. This can be a bit baffling because our laundry detergent is different than what's common in the States. Ours is usually in tablet form, or in little "pillows" that dissolve in water.

Instead of having a separate washer and dryer, we usually have one machine that does both jobs. (I think I've told the story about my first attempt to wash clothes in Ireland. The machine had no English on it, just symbols that I couldn't decipher. I was trying to figure out whether it was a washer or a dryer... I'd never heard of a machine that could do both!)

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賢いふくろぐま
Seans Eile - free software to help you practice your Irish
Scéala na Wombait - Muddle-headed Memes and Musings

These are great!

Here's a question: All three self-catering places I stayed in had electric showers...is that common, or is it more a tourist-place thing? (I'd never seen one before).

Ah, I so want to go back!

Redwolf

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Táim ag foghlaim Gaelainn na Mumhan

Tá fáilte roim nach aon cheartú!
I am a learner. Any translations offered are practice and should not be used unless confirmed.

I have never heard of a 'feminine towel' in my life; 'sanitary towel' is the only name I have ever heard.

However, I find the potential confusion about asking for a ride much more interesting......

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Here is a few that come to mind. These are mostly Dublinese.

Pants - trousers
A press - a cupboard
A Tá Sé - an Irish speaker
Bowsie - a ruffian
Gurrier - a ruffian
Dote - a pretty baby
Getourrathat - Is that so? or I dont believe you
Go for the messages - go shoppong
Gollier - phelm or spit
Larrup -to smack
Lashing - raining hard
Pooley - urine
Possin' - very wet
Shore - a street drain
Put the kibosh on - to jinx or hex (from Caip báis)(cap of death)
You have you glue - dont be silly

That's interesting...we use "kibosh" here as well. Brought here by Irish immigrants, I'm betting.

Redwolf

sanitary towel/pad - is what I've always heard too.

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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There's plenty of speculation about the origins of the word "kibosh" (the most commonly proposed Irish etymology is caidhp bháis, supposedly the term for the hood put over the head of someone about to be hanged, although I've not seen any relevant citations for this); plenty of people seem to think it could be from Hebrew/Yiddish or even from Turkish.

I just want to point out that the linguistic exchange between Ireland and the US is a two-way street and has been since the beginning: immigrants stay in touch with people back home and may eventually return to settle down. So it could just as well have originated in America and been taken back.

Does anyone have an answer to the electric shower question I asked earlier? I'm starting the article off with an anecdote that isn't relevant if they're not commonly used in Ireland outside of tourist accommodations.

Redwolf