It's no secret that the Irish have a great command over the English language. The Emerald Isle has produced some of the world's most celebrated writers of all time. Yet Irish people's flowery use of the English language goes far beyond putting pen to paper. We can express ourselves just as colorfully when we speak. Irish idioms and phrases can conjure images as vivid as those of any poet. To get the best of Irish history , culture, and folklore sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletter . Case in point: Irish trash talk. Take a look at the creative ways the Irish insult with these savage expressio P utin is in a panic over the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive , which may already be in its preliminary “battlefield-shaping” stage. He doesn’t know, any more than the rest of us do, when the offensive will be launched, where it will strike or whether it will succeed. What he does know is that if it achieves significant success, his own days might be