(Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Oh, that vice president of ours. Joe Biden, speaking at a White House reception yesterday for Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, couldn’t make his remarks without slipping into an anecdote about his ancestors from the green and hilly isle.

Via Gawker, we hear the talky No. 2 dipped into an old Irish saying—allegedly told by his grandfather—about maintaining the bonds of Celtic friendship:

There’s all kinds of old Irish sayings … At least my Grandfather Finnegan, I think he made them up, but it says, may the hinges of our friendship never go rusty. Well, with these two folks that you’re about to meet, if you haven’t already, there’s no doubt about them staying oiled and lubricated here. Ladies and gentlemen—now, for you who are not full Irish in this room, lubricating has a different meaning for us all.

Hopefully the White House press office won’t have too slippery a time explaining this one.

Watch Biden’s remarks on lubricated Irish people: