Lúdramán
A fool. A lazy or idle person who has done something silly. Stronger than 'eejit' and gentler than 'gobshite' - a lúdramán is a known idle character, not a person who has made an honest mistake. Almost always used affectionately or in mock-exasperation.
Etymology
From Irish 'lúdramán' (= a fool, an idler, a layabout), itself with the diminutive suffix '-án' attached to a root meaning loose or limp.the Hiberno-English borrowing keeps the Irish form, with the fada usually preserved in print. The compendium and Dolan both list it among the Irish-derived insult-words. Heard alongside 'amadán' as a similar but distinct insult.
In a sentence
"That lúdramán has been at the same fence for two days and still hasn't put a nail in it."
Historical notes
Lúdramán is one of the slightly less common Irish-language insults in everyday Hiberno-English, but it occupies a specific register: idleness rather than foolishness. An amadán has done something silly; a lúdramán has done nothing at all when something should have been done. The word's modest currency means that using it tends to mark the speaker as Irish-language-aware, in a way that 'eejit' or 'amadán' do not. The fada usually carries in careful print; casual spelling drops it to 'ludraman'.
Alternate spellings
ludraman
Sources
- Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (Ó Dónaill), entry lúdramán. · dictionary
- Dolan, Terence Patrick. A Dictionary of Hiberno-English. Gill Books. · dictionary