What's the craic? The origins of 7 popular Hiberno-English expressions
The English language is rich with phrases borrowed from other tongues. Latin, French, Spanish and German all lend a hand to the English spoken throughout the world, but Irish (or Hiberno-English) has unequivocally contributed its fair share not only across the Emerald Isle, but also internationally.
According to the 2022 Census, the population of people living in the Gaelteacht areas in Ireland is more than 106,000 people, and 1.9 million people interviewed in Ireland stated that they could speak the Irish language. In my research and experience as an English language teacher, I was always truly amazed by a student studying English as a second language greeting me with Irish slang expressions and greetings. From the colloquial "how’s she cutting" to the Gaelic canonical phrase "what’s the craic", it always made me smile when a student, from as far away as the DCR of Congo, announced their arrival in the classroom in such a fashion.
Slang expressions (another form of figurative language) reflect the culture, wit, and history of a local area, and Ireland is no exception. This article will discuss certain words and phrases that have their foundations in the Gaelic language, and have clearly blended almost seamlessly into everyday English on the island of saints and scholars. Of course, debate remains as to the exact origin story of many exponents, but we'll take a look at the most prominent positions and beliefs.
Let’s begin with the title greeting "what’s the craic". In Ireland, linguists claim that its origins lie in the Gaelic counterpart "craic agus ceol" but of course there has been some debate. The Irish Star, however, postulates that this phrase comes from the old English word crac, which means a loud conversation or bragging talk. It is therefore argued that the meaning in Ireland is similar to the inquisitive salutation how are you? How’s it going? Interestingly, locals know that a response is not needed to this question, a simple hi is an accepted response to this greeting.
Next, let’s think about the Irish people. How do we describe them? Are Irish people really lucky? No doubt we have all heard of the descriptive "luck of the Irish," which suggests a mysterious, streak of good fortune. While mostly implied as a clear, positive reflection of the Irish, there is also belief that it originated with an initial sarcastic tone. It is thought that the Irish became referred to as blessed during the California Gold Rush (1848-1855), since many of the successful miners were in fact Irish, and it is argued that the expression was coined then.
Figurative, idiomatic language and its counterpart slang is something that I and many of my colleagues in Limerick have researched in detail. One expression which I am sure we have all heard on numerous occasions is the idiom "to chance your arm" meaning to take a risk. I was surprised to learn that Its roots lie in a story from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, where a knight allegedly reached through a hole in a door to make peace, risking deadly harm but ultimately also achieving reconciliation.
The prepositional phrase "beyond the pale," used to describe a person’s behaviour lacking ethics and morality, is an idiomatic expression frequently heard in Ireland. It dates to English governance in Ireland in the late Middle Ages. The "Pale" was the area around Dublin under English control and anything outside of this was considered at that time wild and/or primitive.
In addition, a further surprising (for me) origin story is the phrase bualadh bos, referring to applauding or clapping. The Irish still to this day often say bualadh bos instead of the English equivalent. It has been suggested that it’s direct translation "press the flesh" can be interpreted as shaking hands, a physical greeting.
The Gaelic influence can also be seen in grammatical quirks, and what is referred to in grammar as the ‘be after perfect tense’ or the ‘hot news tense’, to mean a recently completed action or An Aimsir Chaite. We see it in examples like "I’m after falling" or "you’re after upsetting him". Though profoundly frequent while chatting in Ireland, this structure is virtually unknown in other English-speaking countries.
There are also single lexical units or words which have their origins in Gaelic and have made it into the English vernacular inside and outside of Ireland. A word that has always intrigued me (and one of my dear old nana’s favourites) is the word "Shenanigans" . The origins are quite debated, but many linguists have traced it back to the Irish word "sionnachuighim, meaning to play tricks. In describing playfulness and light-hearted troublemaking, shenanigans are being had in English the world over.
Furthermore, the many wetlands or "bogs," and the Irish landscapes are famous internationally for many reasons, including the word itself. Bog derives from the Irish bogach. Another example is the word "slogan," obtained from the Irish sluagh-ghairm roughly translated as a battle cry. It is now widely used to mean a catchy phrase in protests, politics, and marketing.
Finally, ever wondered where the word "boycott" came from? Captain Charles Boycott was a 19th-century English land agent residing in County Mayo. Boycott’s harsh eviction policies were met with protest by many of his tenants, who isolated and refused to work with him. Such a collective action resulted in Boycott’s name becoming and remaining to this day synonymous with organised refusal.
It's is clear to see that the English language has absorbed numerous words from Irish, bringing a distinctive Irish charm and cultural nuance to the English not only spoken in Ireland, but across the English-speaking world. So, the next time you chat with a friend over an Uisce Beatha, think about the origins of the words and phrases you are using.
