“What’s the craic?”

The main language in Ireland is English. Even though students still learn Irish Gaelic (or as the locals just call it “Irish”) in school and there are still people whose first language is Irish, we’ve never encountered anyone here who does not speak English. I mean, the Irish accent can be pretty thick, especially in Western Ireland, but it’s not as hard to understand as, say, a different language.

Nevertheless, they definitely have a few phrases here that I’ve never heard of in the United States. There are words like “class,” “grand,” and “sound” that they use interchangeably to mean “good”. Those are pretty easy to understand and catch onto in context.

“Hey, how are you doing?”

“Grand, yourself?”

“I’ll meet you at the pub at half nine.”

“Sound.”

“You see that view? Like, that’s class.”

But there seems to be this one phrase that trips up many Americans:

“What’s the craic?”

The word “craic” is pronounced “crack,” so it’s understandable when Americans get confused the first time they hear an Irish person say something like, “Oh yeah, great craic in that town!” or “I spend the afternoon today with Tom; the craic was grand!”

“Craic” doesn’t really have a specific “translation”. It’s just a casual term that people use to describe hanging out with people or simply having a good time. For example, “What’s the craic?” means “What’s up?” or “What’s going on?” When people say that some place has “great craic,” it means that the place has a good vibe; there are usually interesting people to talk to there, and it’s a good time. It’s my favorite phrase that I’ve heard in Ireland so far because it’s so common and so practical and easy to use.

So if you’re ever traveling around Ireland and you hear that some place has “great craic,” don’t be concerned–just go and see what the craic’s all about! I’m sure it’ll be grand.