craic

[KOPFILE]

I'm irish and i use the term havin the craic. What does it mean and where does it come from?

[jno]

I had assumed it was Gaelic, but wikipedia says it's not... you live and learn.

[Pippa68]

I had always thought that 'Craic' was Gaelic for 'Fun'.

Thanks for the wikipedia link :o)

[Whickerman]

Wow - that's an eye-opener!

[Carol Anne]

Who says it's spelt craic anyway? Years ago in 70's Dublin I often saw that word 'crack' in print in articles in mags like 'In Dublin' or newspaper articles. I always assumed it had it's origin in cracking a joke or something. So in my young day we just enjoyed the crack without worrying about giving it some p/ss -elegant wine bar spelling. (BTW Carole Anne is from Glasgow :-)

[boderectium]

Unfortunately the Irish borrow most their culture and market it as their own.

The Celtic knot design found in every jewellery market stall up and down the country is in fact a Germanic symbol with links to the Romans. The Book of Kells, also not Irish but I could go for hours....!

The word has been found in books wriiten in Scots and spelt "crak" however I'm not sure when it was first used.

The correct spelling is crack.

[ChoppersX]

Irish word, refers to good times, as well as scandal/gossip/goings on. No real English equivalent.Last night was great craic!

What's the craic?

Good website for answering this is http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=craic

[boderectium]

No real English equivalent? I've never heard so much misinformation and Irish propaganda rubbish.

The Gaelic/ Norman Irish adopted the word in the 1970s from the Old English language or more likely the Old Scots dialect.

Still used by Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland meaning fun.

The wikipedia definition clearly states the history and modern use of the word.