Shift, snog or meet? TV’s biggest dating show is back and the summer of love has officially started, but with so much love in the air, what do they call a kiss these days? Well to keep you informed, Domino’s asked the question.
The nation’s best-loved pizza company asked Irelander’s their chosen lingo of love, with ‘ride’ and ‘fine thing’ topping the tables as a nickname for a potential ‘love interest’ with ‘shift’ and the classic ‘snog’ being the vernacular of choice for a kiss.
Unsurprisingly, each county has their own way with words, especially when referring to a kiss . From shifting in Cork (38%), Galway (58%) and Longford (80%) to kissing in Kilkenny (11%), Laois (9%) and Wicklow (14%) to ‘ateing the face’ off each other in Limerick (14%).
Overwhelmingly though, the Irish prefer calling it ‘the shift’, with the phrase proving to be particularly attractive in counties Mayo and Wexford, where 62% and 61% respectively are ‘shifting’ more than anyone else. ‘Snogging’, however, is more popular up north, whilst Dubliner’s prefer to ‘meet’.
Taking inspiration from our Islanders, ‘gorge’ and ‘lush’ feature prominently as the chosen term of endearment for an attractive suitor, with 10% and 7% of Irelander’s using the terms, whereas the people of Laois prefer ‘savage’ with the majority (36%) opting for this sort of affectionate term.
The capital’s northside/southside divide is alive and well with Dublin’s Northsiders preferring ‘ride’ (35%) and Southsiders choosing a ‘fine thing’ (28%). However, all Dubliners unite with ‘lush’ and ‘lethal’ giving them the ick.
Eoin Corrigan, Love Ireland Guru says: “It’s that time of year, Irelander’s across the country are tuning into to watch their favourite icon’s ‘shift’ and ‘meet’ their ‘fine things’ and ‘rides’. And whilst we’ll be tuning in daily, we’ll keep it simple. We’re sticking with pizza. It’s delicious, hot and delivered on time, ready to tune in!”
Domino’s conducted research with 1,000 people in 32 counties in Ireland with Bounce Insights between Monday, 29th May and Thursday, 1st June 2023. The research results are broken down as follows:
What word do you use to describe an attractive person?
20% Ride
18% Finer/Fine Thing
10% Gorge
7% Savage
6% Deadly
5% Top Notch
4% Lush
3% Lethal
3% Mint
3% Belter
3% Bang On
3% Bees Knees
2% Beor
1% Lash
12% Other
Most popular by county (incl Dublin North & Dublin South)
14 Finer/Fine Thing
13 Ride
3 Gorge
2 Lush
1 Savage
Love Island airs every evening at 9pm on Virgin Media Two and on the Virgin Media Player, Domino’s is available to order via dominos.ie to deliver straight to your door so you can create the perfect coupling up that won't give you the ick!
Slán go fóill.