“Whale oil beef hooked” (How to speak Irish in one easy lesson)

“Whale oil beef hooked” are words that have been printed on many images. Supposedly, it’s a joke of how an Irish persons says, “Well, I’ll be fucked.” The words have been cited in print since at least 1975.
   
“How to speak Irish in one easy lesson: Say very quickly: WHALE OIL BEEF HOOKED” was printed in a London magazine in 1985 and recorded in Béaloideas: The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society in 1986.
   
     
Google Books     
The New Review
Volume 2, Issues 13-24
1975
Pg. 45:
‘Chrissy White’s Jug Band’ was scratched on the dashboard, ‘Whale Oil Beef Hooked’, ‘Brillo Pads’, ‘Costello’s Castella’ and other items.
   
Google Books
Béaloideas:
The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society
Volumes 54-57
1986
Pg. 80:
They make an occasional appearance, however, as in the following item from a London rag mag of 1985:
 
How to speak Irish in one easy lesson:
Say very quickly:
WHALE
OIL
BEEF
HOOKED.
 
Google Books
Laughing Matters:
A Serious Look at Humour
By John R. Durant and Jonathan Miller
Essex, Eng.: Longman Scientific & Technical; New York, NY: Wiley
1988
Pg. 58:
How to speak Irish in one easy lesson. Say very quickly:
WHALE
OIL
BEEF
HOOKED’
   
Summer 1992, The New Welsh Review, pg. 56:
Whale Oil Beef Hooked
 
29 October 1994, The Times (London, UK), “Home is where the plaque is” by Oliver Bennett, pg. ?:
This tradition continues: Peter Watson, of Watson Signs in Richmond, North Yorkshire, recently made a Dambreezy for a hilltop homestead, and he has even sold dozens of a sign reading Whale Oil Beef Hooked, which needs to be read out loud for maximum impact.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Manifold
Author: Beat Farmers (Musical group)
Publisher: [Place of publication not identified] : Sector 2, p©1995.
Edition/Format:   Music CD : CD audio : English
Contents:
Whale, oil, beef, hooked—
 
26 February 1996, The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland), “This healthy living business is really a laugh” by William Reville, pg. 2, col. 7:
Here is one I read recently, of American origin—Question: What is a real quick way to learn Irish? Answer: Repeat the following words in quick succession—WHALE, OIL, BEEF, HOOKED.
 
Twitter
Evert Bopp‏
@EvertB
Can you say “whale oil beef hooked” without sounding like a paddy swearing?
6:32 AM - 10 May 2008
 
Twitter
John January‏
@americopywriter
Whale Oil. Beef Hooked. Say it with a pirate accent.
7:09 AM - 7 Jun 2008
 
Twitter
Andrew Lynch‏
@lurch89
Whale Oil Beef Hooked…once again, now with a Scottish accent!
6:49 PM - 10 Sep 2008
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Great British Humour
By Michael Powell
London: Constable & Robinson, Ltd
2010
Pg. ?:
Try saying, “Whale oil beef hooked”, without sounding like an Irish man swearing.
Jack Dee
 
Twitter
Cassandra Reed‏
@cassandrareed
Irish 101: Say “whale oil beef hooked” 5 times fast #StPatricksDay
11:49 AM - 17 Mar 2017 from Torrance, CA