Debate As To Whether Dublin Man Got A “Good Hiding” Or A “Bad Hiding”

“WHAT is the difference between a good hiding and a bad hiding?” wondered one Dublin man today during a prolonged assault by three youths on O’Connell Street that lasted almost ten minutes.

“This feels bad, but I’m still alive… so that’s a good hiding, isn’t it?” mused Ian Keneally, receiving his ninth kick to the head, “Be interesting to get the public’s opinion on this”.

The growing crowd of onlookers and Gardai, who were also wondering how to describe the assault, debated the correct adjective to use when describing the beating.

“I’d say he’s getting a good hiding,” said one member of An Garda Siochana, who had already broken up a similar altercation on O’Connell Street that morning, and felt he’d ‘done enough that day’.

“Then again, maybe it’s only a ‘good hiding’ when you discuss what he’s been given, and not what he’s getting. ‘They gave him a good hiding… he got a bad hiding’, you know? It’s one of those grammar puzzles, I think you can be right either way”.

Paramedics later described Mr. Keneally as being the victim of a ‘bad beating’ when resetting his dislocated jaw, but subsequent judges described it as a ‘good hiding’ when handing down suspended sentences to his attackers, still leaving the details of the case shrouded in mystery.