Crack (craic)

Crack or craic is "fun, enjoyment, abandonment, or lighthearted mischief; often in the context of drinking or music". [Oxford English Dictionary "crack (noun)" sense I.5.c] This sense of the word "crack" is found in Irish English, Scottish English, and Geordie as well as Mackem in North East England. In Ireland the spelling "craic" is now more common than "crack". This spelling is also found in Scotland.

Origins

An older, related, more widespread, sense of "crack" is "joke" [Oxford English Dictionary "crack (noun)" sense I.5.b] , as in "crack a joke" or "wise-crack". Another sense of "crack", found in Scottish English, is "news, gossip" [Oxford English Dictionary "crack (noun)" sense I.5.a] , which influences the common Irish expression "What's the crack?" or "How's the crack?", meaning "how are you?", "how have you been?", or "have you any news?"

The context involving 'news' and 'gossip' originated in English [ [http://www.hiberno-english.com/body.php?action=search&s=craic "Crack, Craic" from Hiberno-English dictionary] ] and Scots [ [http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?plen=5602&startset=10071840&query=Crak&fhit=crak&dregion=form&dtext=dost#fhit "Crak" from the Dictionary of the Scots Language] ] and came to Ireland through Ulster dialects of English and/or Scots, where the sense of 'fun' developed. Early Irish citations from the "Irish Independent" relate to rural Ulster: from 1950, "There was much good "crack"... in the edition of "Country Magazine" which covered Northern Ireland"; [] or from 1955, "the Duke pulled the bolt on the door of the piggery, and let Coogan's old sow out...The Duke had been sitting on top of Kelly's gate watching the crack." [] It can frequently be found in the work of twentieth century Ulster writers such as Brian Friel (1980): "You never saw such crack in your life, boys" [Brian Friel: "Translations"] and Jennifer Johnston (1977): "I'm sorry if I muscled in on Saturday. Did I spoil your crack?" [Jennifer Johnston: "Shadows on Our Skin"] .

In Newcastle upon Tyne there is a listings magazine called "The Crack".

pelling

Like many other words over the centuries, 'crack' was borrowed into the Irish language with a Gaelicized spelling ('craic'). It is attested from a 1968 newspaper advertisement. [] This was popularized in the catchphrase 'Beidh ceol, caint agus craic againn' ('We'll have music, chat and craic'), used by Seán Bán Breathnach for his Irish-language chatshow "SBB ina Shuí", broadcast on RTÉ from 1976 to 83. 'Craic' was also used on Irish-language hand-lettered signs displayed outside many pubs, and subsequently the Irish spelling was reborrowed for English-language signs and publications. Until the late 1980s, this spelling was unknown in English: Barney Rush's 1960s song "The Crack Was Ninety In The Isle of Man" does not use the Irish-language spelling.

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 of "The Irish Times" has said of the word: 'Most Irish people now have no idea it's foreign.' [cite book|title=Xenophobe's Guide to the Irish|last=McNally|first=Frank|year=2005|location=London|id=ISBN 1-902825-33-0|publisher=Oval|pages=p.19]

Criticism of the spelling "craic"

The spelling "craic" has attracted some criticism. Diarmaid Ó Muirithe has written: [] Fintan Vallely condemned "craic" in his "Companion to Irish Traditional Music", [cite book |title=Companion to Irish Traditional Music |id=ISBN 0814788025 |last=Vallely |first=Fintan |year=1999 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York ] and elaborated via an open letter to an internet forum: [cite web| url=http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/5103#comment107977 |title=The ultimate case sticker (and seisiún vs session): Stop the press! |accessdate=2006-12-22 |date=2004-12-01 |last=Vallely |first=Fintan |publisher=thesession.org]

Other critics have accused the Irish tourism industry and the promoters of Irish theme pubs of marketing 'commodified craic' as a kind of stereotypical Irishness. [cite book|chapter='The Cracked Pint Glass of the Servant': the Irish Pub, Irish Identity, and the Tourist Eye|title=Irish Tourism: Image, Culture and Identity|editor=Michael Cronin and Barbara O'Connor|last=McGovern|first=Mark|year=2003|location=Clevedon|id=ISBN 1-873150-54-7|publisher=Channel View|pages=p.91]

Usage

Examples of use would be a reply to the question, 'How was your evening?' such as 'Aye, it was good crack', meaning 'I had a good time'. A popular way to start a conversation on the Internet and texting is 'What's the craic/crack?' meaning 'Any news?' or 'Any gossip?' It is sometimes written as 'what's da craic?, which is sometimes abbreviated to 'wdc'.

A person who is 'good crack' is fun to be with. Crack is, by default, positive: 'good crack', 'great crack', 'the crack was ninety' or 'the crack was mighty'. In Irish, 'Bhí craic againn' is 'We had a good time', and 'Bhí an-chraic againn' is 'We had a great time'.

However, 'bad crack' is also used occasionally.

The 'news' sense of crack is used in the singular in Hiberno-English, although originally Scots used the plural:
* Scots: 'Gie's your cracks. Whit's aw the news in the toun?'
* Hiberno-English / Mid-Ulster English: 'What's [or How's] the crack?' [Typical response: 'Nothing much.']
* Irish: 'Cad é an craic leat?' ['What's new with you?']
* North-east England: 'What's the crack the day like?' [Geordie colloquialism]

The potential is well-known in Ireland of foreigners misconstruing "crack" in such phrases as "I had some great crack" as referring to crack cocaine.

References