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| The 'craic' is not quite what it seems... |
The word craic/crack is often assumed to have come from the vaguely distant past when Brian Boru was the High King, ruling over the Four Green Fields of Ireland. But it was not until 1972 that there was the first citation in an English language publication (The Irish Independent)Nor was it a flagship entry in Irish language dictionaries. It was first popularised on the RTE television programme called SBB ina Shuí, which popularised the catchphrase beidh ceol, caint agus craic againn’ — we shall have music, chat and craic.
Before that, Robbie Burns had used the word in his poem ‘Holy Fair’ (1785)
‘Wi’ faith an’ hope, an’ love an’ drink,/ They’re a’ in famous tune/ For crack that day.’
Did Burns speak Gaelic?
No, he was writing in Scots - a northern English dialect. Craic was a loanword from English into Gaelic rather than the reverse. It was then imported back fromGaelic in the mid 20th Century.
The crack was initially slang for gossip. Burns 'crack that day' is meant in this sense. This usage survived the windy journey into Gaelic and back into Irish-English, e.g. What's the crack over there?
This gradually morphed into an all-purpose expression to describe a good time.