Guidebook Of Best-loved Sayings: How Irish Talk English Lesson 14: The Craic This is currently, and has been since the 1960’s, an expression used often and well by the Irish. It means, of course, “good fun” but can also encompass a larger meaning of mischievous adventure. It is an adopted word, having travelled from old English to Scottish to Irish and back into English. At this point however, it is being over-used and proudly broadcast by so many Americans as a means of displaying their knowledge of Irish culture, that it runs the risk of being abandoned by the true Irish within the next half decade. I am reminded of a story my father once told me, of how Joe DiMaggio used to leave a dozen roses on the grave of Marilyn Monroe every year on her birthday. Until at last some newspaper reporter discovered his annual tradition of love for his late ex-wife, and reported it to the public. At that point, Joe stopped doing it; he did not want his personal tradition to become a spectacle for tourist-fed gawking. The Irish, I believe, are much like Joltin’ Joe in this regard, and before long, “The Craic” will be on the same level as “Beggora” and “Top O’ The Morning To Ya.” And when that happens, I believe I will think (but not say), Fair Play To Ye.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:47:40 +0000
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