Geg
A laugh. A joke. A piece of fun, with the implication that the speakers had a good time. 'It was a geg' = it was funny and enjoyable. As a verb (to geg, geggin'): to joke around.
Etymology
From the older English noun 'gag' (a joke), with the vowel shift typical of Scots and Ulster Scots pronunciation. The form 'geg' settled into Scots usage and travelled with it into Ulster. The standard English 'gag' lost ground in Ulster speech to the local form.
In a sentence
"It was a quare geg - couldn't stop laughing the whole way home."
Historical notes
Geg is one of the small Ulster Scots vocabulary items that operates close to the English original ('gag') with just enough difference to mark identity. The construction 'good geg' is a common compliment; 'no geg' is the standard understatement for something that was, in fact, not enjoyable at all. The verb form 'geggin'' is most often heard in past tense - 'we were only geggin' him' = we were only winding him up.
Sources
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), entry GEG. · dictionary
- Macafee, Caroline. A Concise Ulster Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1996. · dictionary