Craic (/kræk/KRAK) orcrack is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent inIreland.[1][2][3] It is often used with thedefinite article –the craic[1] – as in the expression "What's the craic?", meaning "How are you?" or "What's happening?". TheScots andEnglishcrack wasborrowed intoIrish ascraic in the mid-20th century and the Irish spelling was thenreborrowed into English.[1] Under both spellings, the term has become popular and significant in Ireland.
The wordcrack is derived from theMiddle Englishcrak, meaning "loud conversation, bragging talk".[4] A sense ofcrack found in Northern England and Scotland meaning "conversation" or "news"[5] produces expressions such as "What's the crack?",[6] meaning "how are you?" or "have you any news?", similar to "what's up?", "how's it going?", or "what's the word?" in other regions. The context involving "news" and "gossip" originated inNorthern English[7] andScots.[8] A book on the speech of Northern England published in 1825 equatescrack with "chat, conversation, news".[9] The term is recorded in Scotland with this sense as far back as the 16th century, with bothRobert Fergusson andRobert Burns employing it in the 1770s and 1780s.[10][11][12]
The Scottish song "The Wark o The Weavers", which dates back to the early part of the 19th century, published by David Shaw, who died in 1856, has the opening line "We're a' met thegither here tae sit an tae crack, Wi oor glesses in oor hands...."[13][14] A collection of folk songs fromCumberland published in 1865 refers to villagers "enjoying their crack".[15] "Crack" is prominent inCumbrian dialect and everyday Cumbrian usage (including the name of an online local newspaper), with the meaning "gossip".[16][17] A glossary ofLancashire terms and phrases published in 1869 listscrack as meaning "chat",[18] as does a book on the local culture ofEdinburgh published in the same year.[19] Glossaries of the dialects ofYorkshire (1878),Cheshire (1886), andNorthumberland (1892) equatecrack variously with "conversation", "gossip", and "talk".[20][21][22] These senses of the term enteredHiberno-English from Scots throughUlster at some point in the mid-20th century and were then borrowed into Irish.[1]
TheDictionary of the Scots Language records use of the term in Ulster in 1929.[11] Other early Irish citations from theIrish Independent relate to rural Ulster: from 1950, "There was much good 'crack'... in the edition ofCountry Magazine which covered Northern Ireland";[23] or from 1955, "The Duke had been sitting on top of Kelly's gate watching the crack."[24] At this time the word was, in Ireland, associated with Ulster dialects: in 1964 linguist John Braidwood said of the term, "perhaps one of the most seemingly native Ulster words iscrack.... In fact the word is of English and Scots origin."[25] It can frequently be found in the work of 20th century Ulster writers such asFlann O'Brien (1966) "You say you'd like a joke or two for a bit of crack."[26] andBrian Friel (1980): "You never saw such crack in your life, boys".[27]
Crack wasborrowed into theIrish language with theGaelicized spellingcraic.[1] It has been used in Irish since at least 1968,[28] and was popularised in thecatchphraseBeidh ceol, caint agus craic againn ("We'll have music, chat and craic"), used bySeán Bán Breathnach for his Irish-language chatshowSBB ina Shuí, broadcast onRTÉ from 1976 to 1982.[1][29][30] The Irish spelling was soonreborrowed into English, and is attested in publications from the 1970s and 1980s.[1]Craic has also been used inScottish Gaelic since at least the early 1990s, though it is unknown if it was borrowed directly from Irish or from English.[1]
At first thecraic form was uncommon outside Irish, even in an Irish context. Barney Rush's 1960s song "The Crack Was Ninety in theIsle of Man" does not use the Irish-language spelling, neither is it used inChristy Moore's 1978 version.[31] However,The Dubliners' 2006 version adopts the Irish spelling.[32] The title ofFour to the Bar's 1994 concert album,Craic on the Road, uses the Irish-language spelling as an English-language pun,[33] as does Irish comedianDara Ó Briain's 2012 showCraic Dealer.[34]
Now, "craic" is interpreted as a specifically and quintessentially Irish form of fun. The adoption of the Gaelic spelling has reinforced the sense that this is an independent word (homophone) rather than a separate sense of the original word (polysemy). Frank McNally ofThe Irish Times has said of the word, "[m]ost Irish people now have no idea it's foreign."[35]
Thecraic spelling has attracted criticism when used in English. English-language specialistDiarmaid Ó Muirithe wrote in hisIrish Times column "The Words We Use" that "the constant Gaelicisation of the good old English-Scottish dialect word crack ascraic sets my teeth on edge".[36] Writing for theIrish Independent, Irish journalistKevin Myers criticised thecraic spelling as "pseudo-Gaelic" and a "bogusneologism".[37] Other linguists have referred to thecraic form as "fake Irish".[38]
"The craic" has become a part ofIrish culture. In a 2001 review of the modern Irishinformation economy,information sciences professor Eileen M. Trauth called "craic" an intrinsic part of the culture of sociability that distinguished the Irish workplace from those of other countries.[39] Trauth wrote that even as Ireland transitioned away from an economy and society dominated by agriculture, the traditional importance of atmosphere and the art of conversation – "craic" – remains, and that the social life is a fundamental part of workers' judgment ofquality of life.[40]
Critics have accused theIrish tourism industry and the promoters of Irish theme pubs of marketing "commodified craic" as a kind of stereotypical Irishness.[41] In hisCompanion to Irish Traditional Music, Fintan Vallely suggests that use ofcraic in English is largely an exercise on the part ofIrish pubs to make money through the commercialisation of traditional Irish music.[42] Likewise, Donald Clarke inThe Irish Times associates the change of spelling tocraic with the rebranding of the Irish pub as a tourist attraction during the 1990s.[43]
craic,n. Fun, amusement; entertaining company or conversation... Freq. withthe.
Friday, RTÉ, 5.30: 'SBB na Shui' [sic] is a new half-hour series with the star of Radio na Gaeltachta, Sean Ban Breathnach, in the chair presenting music, serious discussion and yarns, i.e., ceol, caint agus craic.
"Ceoil, caint agus craic" is how Mr. Breathnach introduces the programme.
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