Irish pubs have been opened throughout the world, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, from Boston to Frankfurt, Johannesburg to Beijing. They generally have a lot in common with pubs in Ireland. A key feature of Irish pubs is the ambiance - the atmosphere of congeniality and good humor, most usually enhanced by song and colorful talk.

Irish poets are world-renowned, like W. B Yeats (Nobel Prize, 1923) and Seamus Heaney (Nobel Prize, 1995)

Irish playwrights include George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, and Oscar Wilde.

And Irish palaver (aka cajolery, sweet-talk, blarney) is mastered by many Irish folks.

The Irish pubs serve as a perfect setting for mirth and talk. Palaver, including story-telling, lively debates, joking, and cajoling are the currency of socializing -- leavened, of course, by a few pints of Guinness. The Irish love of the English language and its Irish masters like James Joyce stimulate an intense cultural motivation to play with language and compete to be the best.

As drama critic T.E. Kalem wrote in response to Brendan Behan's 1958 play, Borstal Boy,

"The English language brings out the best in the Irish. They court it like a beautiful woman. They make it bray with donkey laughter. They hurl it at the sky like a paint pot full of rainbows, and then make it chant a dirge for man's fate and man's follies that is as mournful as misty spring rain crying over the fallow earth."

Scintillating talk and playful banter are a top priority among the Irish.

"There is an Irish way of paying compliments as though they were irresistible truths which makes what would otherwise be an impertinence delightful."

--Katherine Tynan Hinkson

Other nations have different cultural priorities. Such as France: cuisine, wine, fashion. Italy: Music and art.

Ireland? Words and Talk.

The golden nugget for all conversers is this: Look to the best exemplars and borrow from their skills. The Irish - and many Americans of Irish descent -are wonderful wordsmiths.

(My friend Bob Kelly, an author and editor, publishes a delightful free monthly newsletter, the KellyGram, with intriguing examples of word-play. Subscriptions at www.wordcrafters.info)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, March 17!

Until next week,

Loren