And according to a new survey carried out by EBS, we are all guilty. "I'll be there in a minute" is a phrase we utter and hear practically everyday, and yet the definition of how long that "minute" is actually going to be, varies greatly.
The survey, which polled 1000 people across the country in a bid to find out just how long the ‘Irish minute’ really is, revealed that not only are we a bit generous when it comes to estimating how long things will take, we are also prone to the aul' lie about "being in a taxi" when we are in fact running late.
Turns out, what we actually mean when we claim to be in a taxi is ‘I haven’t left yet’, ’I'm still ages away’ or, worryingly enough in some cases, ‘I totally forgot’. Whoops!
While 4 minutes and 59 seconds came out as the official ‘Irish minute’, the term had a different length from county to county, with Leitrim coming in the shortest at 2 minutes 52 seconds and Carlow the longest at 11 minutes and 30 seconds.
‘Let’s meet up soon’
The survey also found that a third of us (29%) are lying when we say ‘let’s meet up soon’ and we really mean ‘never’.
Just 38% of us will remain true to our word and aim to meet within the next month.
Barry Delaney, Head of Marketing at EBS, said of the survey: “EBS understands that people lead busy lives, and 9-5 doesn’t always suit. Which is why EBS will meet Irish house seekers to talk mortgages anytime. Mornings, evenings, weekends – whatever time means to you, we’ll be there.”
Now, are we surprised by these stats, people? Or is it a case of that we are all so clues into the Irish ways that when someone says "be there in a minute" we just automatically assume that what they mean is in fact more like 10 minutes?
