Got the general feel for the word, but would like a real definition (and pronunciation too).
Susan
(Whew! Almost forgot to check the archives - I did and there’s nothing there.)
What happened to my subject???
[ This Message was edited by: susnfx on 2002-07-26 11:05 ]
[ This Message was edited by: susnfx on 2002-07-26 11:26 ]
Is this what you were looking for?
Aodhan (In a really cheeky mood this morning…
)
One entry found for define.
Main Entry: de·fine
Pronunciation: di-'fIn
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): de·fined; de·fin·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French definer, from Latin definire, from de- + finire to limit, end, from finis boundary, end
Date: 14th century
transitive senses
1 a : to determine or identify the essential qualities or meaning of b : to discover and set forth the meaning of (as a word) c : to create on a computer
2 a : to fix or mark the limits of : DEMARCATE b : to make distinct, clear, or detailed especially in outline <the issues aren’t too well defined>
3 : CHARACTERIZE, DISTINGUISH <you define yourself by the choices you make – Denison Univ. Bull.>
intransitive senses : to make a definition
:roll:
Very cute. My subject went away somehow - now it’s back. Crystal people???
Susan
http://www.bluepages.ie/site/content/cityguide/dictionary/a-d.shtml
http://www.iarecords.com/jukebox/noframe.htm (Scroll down a bit)
http://www.beertravelers.com/indexes/wateringholes/irish.html (Couple paragraphs below the picture)
Guess what I am getting at is that there isn’t really a “set” definition that I know of. As far as I know, it just means good times, good conversation, good night on the town, good friends. Kind of a “mood of the moment” type word.
Aodhan
Hi Susan,
Craic - a good time had amongst friends with laughter, stgories, possibly drink & music. Like a Rocky Mountain session.
“The Craic was 90 in the Isle of Man”. Why 90? Because you can’t get higher than 90.
Pronunciation? “krake”? “kray-ick”?
So 90 is the highest, huh? That’s an odd number to end with. Wonder where that came from.
Susan
1.The craic is the feng shui of a se’siun. It is the combination of the music, the drink, the conversations, the spirit of the surroundings, and trying to make headway with people of the opposite sex. The craic is what drives all emotion and music that comes from the soul.
From http://thecraic.tripod.com/
Pronounced “crack”. Somebody at the session told me a funny story about an american in Ireland getting invited to share some mighty craic in the back room of a pub 
Yup, pronounced “crack” and meaning noisy fun with your friends in a public place like a pub.
Amazed this thread hasn’t already turned into a flame war about the Irish plan to take over the world.
“Craic” is no more than an Irish spelling of “Crack”, which is a perfectly English word, as in “crack a joke”, and it’s pronounced exactly like the English word. It means fun, especially of a convivial nature, which is probably why we of the green and misty persuasion tend to think we have a monopoly on it. I prefer to use the English spelling, unless using it in an Irish-language phrase like “ceol agus craic” - music, chat and general enjoyment of good company.
I saw a discussion of the expression “the crack was 90” either here or on Mudcat not long ago. My take on it is that 90 mph used to be an impossibly fast speed for cars - “He must have been doing 90” used to be said of people speeding dangerously in the days when cars could barely do 60 mph - so “the crack was 90” means that the atmosphere/fun/enjoyment was so good that it was off the scale.
Here is as long a treatise as you’ll find on craig.
According to Ciaran Carson, btw, the term is quite recent, especially in its association with Irish music sessions.
On 2002-07-26 12:22, Bloomfield wrote:
Here > is as long a treatise as you’ll find on craig.
I don’t know this Craig that you refer to (although I do have a friend of the same name). Is he good craic? i.e. Good fun - good to chat with? And…‘a gas man’! (‘gas’ is used in some parts of Ireland a bit like craic - ‘we had a gas time’…he’s a gas man’. Fun. Síne é.
Steve
funny story:
Pal o’ mine from Ireland was in the US, goes up to a (american) policeman, playfully asks “Where’s the craic?” (aka “where’s the fun?” more or less) and gets a very odd and confused look from the policeman…
Gotta love the culture clash…
(for those slow on the pickup craic sounds kinda like “crack” as in crack cocaine. not a good thing to ask a policeman about…)
FWIW, a girl I met in Sligo told us of a fun time that she’d had and said it was “great crack”
On 2002-07-26 12:21, Roger O’Keeffe wrote:
Amazed this thread hasn’t already turned into a flame war about the Irish plan to take over the world.
Hey, I’m not THAT bad. Well, maybe I am. 
The craic was mighty in the back room of a pub in Westport, Co Mayo. That’s where Matt Malloy’s Pub is but unfortunately it’s just a little hole in the wall. Wouldn’t have accomodated our rowdy group. Gm
An Irish-speaking friend of mine in Co Galway explained that not only is it pronounced “crack”, but that it is also an acronym where C R A I C each stands for a word denoting music, singing, dancing, etc. Trouble is, I just can’t remember the words, but I can give her a call if anyone is interested…
If that’s true, I’d like to know what the words are. That’d be interesting…
Susan
On 2002-07-29 08:51, susnfx wrote:
If that’s true, I’d like to know what the words are. That’d be interesting…
Susan
This is interesting. I know that
Ceol = music
Rince = dance
Amhran = song
I wonder what would go with “I” and the end “C”. Hmmmmm…
-David
Feadán,
Never heard the acrostic interpretation of craic before, but as the last “c” I’d suggest Comhrá (conversation) - or possibly Céiliúir, which I suppose might be translated as social interaction (intercourse is the word I had in mind, but I didn’t want to be misunderstood)
I suppose the “I” could be for “ibheach” (drinking).
-David