Thursday 26 March 2009

Living in a Bilingual World (The One About the Craic)

Craic Agus Ceol!

The caption caught my eye immediately. Never mind the fact that the tape contained songs by The Chieftains, Christy Henessy, Sinéad Lohan and Christy Moore amongst other artists; it was those three words that made my eyebrows hug each other for a fleeting instant.

The winter of '96 turned out to be a pretty good one for me. My then girlfriend, now wife, came to stay with my family and me in my flat in Havana for a fortnight and we all got on like a house on fire. I had just attended the Havana's Latin American Film Festival where I had seen a plethora of good movies and as if that wasn't enough the temperature in the Cuban capital was doing exactly what it was supposed to deliver at this time of the year: transforming the morning air into a chilly wind (that the thermometres then shot up to 25-26 Celsius by midday is information that we had better leave aside). Knowing that I was very keen on music and aware of my penchant for Luke Kelly's work, one of my wife's housemates back in the UK, an Irish woman, had made a tape for me together with her (also Irish) sister. The resulting record was riveting to say the least and I remember playing the cassette on a loop on my old battered Walkman, a gift from a French hardcore socialist fellow (nope, neither do I) who had come to visit the University Folkloric Dance Ensemble with which I used to perform in those days.

But it was the cryptic title splayed across the tape's label that puzzled me. Craic Agus Ceol? What could that possibly mean?

The answer arrived unexpectedly some time later when I began to work at a travel agency here in the UK. One of my colleagues was Irish and one day as we were about to break up for Christmas, he said: 'So, what's the craic, mate?' This time I did not let the opportunity slip away and asked D what the word meant. D smiled and exclaimed: 'The craic? The craic's the craic, mate! Sorry, too difficult to explain. It's a feeling that everything's fine, that you're having a good time. That's the craic'.

I would be stating the obvious if I said that I was left even more confused after his enthusiastic reply. Luckily I found (almost) an answer when I spoke to another Irish person.

The word 'craic' (pronounced 'crack') is of English origin (yup, so did I!) and it is used to convey a sense of fun. When utilised with 'agus ceol' it refers to Irish nightlife, so fun and music, there you have it.

Just like my post about the Portuguese word 'saudade' a couple of months ago showed, 'craic' is another of those words that carries the meaning within, rather than externally. And since this term is so warm and tender, at least to me, it is better to leave you tonight with an example of what I think it is good 'craic'. So, enjoy the clip everyone.


Copyright 2009

39 comments:

  1. Thank you, Cuban, I am craic-ed!!! (Did I get it right??)
    Thank you for your kind comments on my readings.
    As one immigrant to another (!!) please accept my sincere compliments - your writing style is exquisite…

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  2. You are so endearing my fellow countryman. Thank you for always teaching us something new. It is a joy to come here.

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  3. Well, I never even heard that expression before but now I know! Thanks.

    and yes, your writing really is very exceptional especially when considering English is not your native tongue!

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  4. Many thanks for your kind comments.

    Greetings from London.

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  5. Hello Mr Cuban

    How is London?

    I loved meeting his love beside the factory wall...

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  6. London is fine and the craic's great. I am listening to Xfm as I write a grant for more services for the local community and I am looking forward to getting home tonight and writing a couple of posts for next week's 'Killer Opening Song' and 'Living in a Bilingual World' sections. Life's good.

    Oh, my God, they are just playing 'Revolution' by The Beatles on the radio. I will be closing the door of my room in a moment (my office is right across the Chill Out Room) and crank up the volume... 'All right, all right, all right...'

    Greetings from London.

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  7. Ah yes, the fanciful imagery of the Celctic language. I'm a fan of Irish music as well, there's a soul to it that's striking. I don't think I've heard the craic expression before but I like it!

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  8. Many thanks, fly girl.

    Greetings from London.

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  9. Always enjoy reading your posts and learning new words.

    Love the new header, btw.

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  10. Aaaargh, up the craic! Makes me long for a mashie a guinness and a night dancin' to the Pogues. Aaaaargh! (Not bad for a russian jew livin' the life in california).

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  11. We all got on like a house on fire--I love this!

    As I started reading, I was hoping you will fill us in on craic. And glad to know I wasn't the only one who had never heard it!

    (Oh, and btw, I didn't break the bowl in the pic! I keep all my broken dishes to use in some creative way. I'm not a thrower, myself!)

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  12. That's a new expression for me, and in the future I will use it. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Many thanks for your kind comments.

    Gabby, man, I was already a teetotal when I got to GB otherwise Guinness would be my choice of beer. And I love their ads, too.

    Greetings from London.

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  14. Very informative post, I've never heard that word, not even in Ireland! Perhaps I should not have said it aloud... but it's never too late to learn. Thanks for this! Polly

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  15. y una preguntica...alli tambien usan "mate"? porque yo creia que esa expresion era australiana, sabes, del de los cocodrilos que se murio:

    "And here we have a female crocodrile. she is gooooooorrrrrrrrgeous!"

    el siempre decia eso de "craiky!" (no se ni como se escribe) o algo asi, que no se si esta relacionado.

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  16. Many thanks, Polly, for your kind comment.

    Liset, si, 'mate' viene del inglés britanico. La palabra a la que te refieres es 'crikey' (pronounced 'kraiki'). En GB tenemos una similar 'Blimey!' y en Londres es 'Cor blimey!' que muy, muy 'Cockney', el acento que te encuentras mas en el este de la capital.

    Muchas gracias por el comentario.

    Saludos desde Londres.

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  17. Le lingue "semimorte" hanno un fascino particolare. Semimorte perché con il passar del tempo, le nostre lingue, vengono influenzate da altri linguaggi.
    Da un lato la multicultura ha i suoi vantaggi. Da un altro, distrugge peró vecchie culture, riducendo le loro origini.
    La cultura cheltica ha il suo fascino particolare. Misteriosa e molto spirituale da molti punti di vista. Bello sempre analizzare gli origini.

    Un saluto da Colonia Cuban,
    Salva

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  18. Mucahs gracias, Salva, muy bienvenido tu comentario. Cierto es que la cultura celta guarda un misterio dentro de si que me impulsa cada vez mas a descubrirla y disfrutarla.

    Saludos desde Londres.

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  19. All right!
    Nice, nunca habia visto la palabra escrita y me daba mucha gracia cuando la decia.

    saludos

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  20. Ah Cuban, ho da tempo voluto segnalarti un grande cantante italiano (siciliano), che mi piace molto. Franco Battiato!
    Lui é un cantante molto particolare in Italia. Uno che gioca con le lingue.
    Ti copio qui alcuni link, di diversi brani musicali.
    Sono sicuro che a te piacerá, visto che sei un intenditore di musica di qualitá.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXV952i_EQE&feature=related


    la cura
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IldsVLoXLk

    el ciudado (la cura)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nIYY_muo-A&feature=related

    Povera Patria
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UUS65a1c6Y

    Bandiera bianca
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dWysmpb9yA&feature=related

    Franco Battiato Gestillte Sehnsucht (Johannes Brahms)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGgDfd2P7x4


    Buon ascolto,

    Salva

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  21. I like how you turned a picture that would never have meant anything to me something that I would remember.

    You have an interesting blog and a nice way to say things...so greetings from California...a state among 50 in the dirty little town of Manteca

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  22. No tenía ni idea de esa expresión! Precisamente le estaba escribiendo a unos amigos irlandeses ahora mismo, así que voy a empezar el mail diciendo, what's the craic? se van a quedar de piedra! jajaja!

    Gracias!!!

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  23. I enjoyed this song!

    I associate the word craic with camaraderie: that feeling of bonhomie when you are having a pleasant jovial time together with friends.

    We giraffes have craic too!

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  24. Me gusto mucho este post. It is so true that certain feelings can only be described by using particular words or expressions. That is what makes language so fascinating. And one more time, gracias por la media que nos hicistes!!!!
    Nos vemos,
    Maylin

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  25. He leido este post dos veces. Me encanta "descubrir" este tipo de palabras. Adoro las etimologias. He estudiado otras cosas, pero creo que al final la filologia termina ganando la partida. Gracias por compartir tus hallazgos, Cuban! Saludos desde Montreal.

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  26. Wonderful post.

    Thank you for not disappointing and wishing me birthday wishes.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  27. Many thanks for your kind comments.

    Salva, estaré viendo esos clips muy pronto.

    Greetings from London.

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  28. crack is London slang too as I am sure you know... to crack up is to start laughing at something and if someone cracks you up they entertain you...is it the same thing as the Irish craic??
    Greetings from Mexico...

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  29. Yes, Catherine and I believe that's where it came from originally. Many thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  30. It is so interesting to see the relationships between a word's meaning and their phonetics and languages!!!In the states ,it is also said "to crack someone up" is to provide a comic relief,in geste or word. Whereas in French it is used to mean to fall apart or split--- amazing! thanks for the great post!
    Salut du Midi!!!

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  31. i always learn something new by you

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  32. i love that phrase ! you arose my curiosity because i lived for one year in Ireland in Sligo and Dublin and...it seems to me i've never heard such an expression but cheers and let's all craic up!

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  33. Many thanks to you all for your kind comments.

    Greetings from London.

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  34. I've never been to Ireland, but I have an Irish friend who introduced us to his version of the craic - in a beach hut in Nigeria! We danced with sand between our toes...

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  35. That must have been wonderful, Tessa. Many thanks for your kind comment.

    Greetings from London.

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  36. Viva, the power of words.

    How one little word like 'craic' produced so much commentary and stirred up memories. It's a powerful word in it of itself.

    Craic on!

    Greetings from Florida

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  37. Many thanks, Liza.

    Greetings from London.

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  38. I love your style of posting and I love this unique quality of your blog.

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  39. me encantan estos post linguísticos.
    craic, huh? me gusta.
    ¿y cómo se pronuncia?

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