By Faith Welch
Bout ye? Good craic!
These phrases may sound like absolute gibberish to the average American, but to a person living in Northern Ireland they are everyday phrases for “How are you?” and “Good fun!”
There is more than a little difference between American English and that of the little UK country of Northern Ireland than meets the eye—or rather, the ear. Unlike its neighbor, The Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, along with Britain, Scotland and Wales, and therefore has a culture that is very similar to Britain’s.
“Before England invaded Northern Ireland there weren’t towns or villages.People lived in small huts with farms. And potatoes,” says Justin Lee, a 16-year-old Northern Irish, in his thick accent during a Skype interview. “But now there are basically no differences between the two cultures. We have the same advances in modern day technology, the same government and the same currency.”
It’s not just the currency that Britain and Northern Ireland have in common. The slang of both countries share many words, some of the popular ones being “cheerio” for goodbye, “mate” for friend and “smashing” for something wonderful.
Probably the first thing that a tourist will notice about the difference in the languages is the many names for food. Because the famous European fish ‘n’ chips is so well known, most people know that “chips” mean french-fries. So how are chips ordered? “May I get some crisps?” would be the appropriate query. There are other words that are less commonly known, such as the “bap,” which is Northern Irish word for a sandwich bun.
Although they know the word “cookie,” it is not the word they use to describe the delicious, warm baked treats that everyone loves here.
“I know that you Americans think that biscuits are a British thing, but that’s just not true. We invented them!” says Deejay Hunter jokingly, a Northern Irish 16-year-old.
Some words are common in America and Northern Ireland, but have very different meanings. These variations can be embarrassing. Elizabeth Godwin, 15, got herself into trouble several times when she visited Northern Ireland for the second time with some of these words.
“I was playing volleyball with them once when my pants started to fall a little, so I said ‘Pause the game! My pants are falling down!’ Then, as everyone giggled, I remember that ‘pants’ is their word for underwear!”
The young traveler found one certain word to be particularly humorous.
“I found it hard to keep a straight face when the people over there used the word ‘crack’,” says Godwin, “It’s hard to get used to that word meaning fun.” Traditionally spelled “craic,” it is pronounced “crack” and can get very confusing when someone exclaims that they had “some good craic the-day!”
Additionally, the Northern Irish also have completely new words in place of the average American ones. The proper response to “Did you have good craic today?” would not be “yes,” it would be “aye!” In Northern Ireland “yous,” meaning “all of you,” replaces the American “ya’ll” commonly used in the South.
Adjectives are a fun way to paint a mental picture, but it is helpful to know exactly what the adjective means. “Brilliant,” “grand” and “smashing” are all ways of saying that something is good.
“When we say ‘that’s class!’ we mean that it is awesome or good,” explains Michelle Mullen, a 21-year-old Northern Irish girl from the small town of Ballysally, along with Lee and Hunter. Instead of describing things as “little” they say “wee.”
There are many ways to describe a person. “‘Dead on’ means that the person is easy to get on with,” says Mullen, during another Skype video chat. If the person is liked as a friend, then they would be described as “mate,” but if the person is thought dumb, the words “eejit” and “plonker” would be thrown around.
Stereotypes typically come from somewhere. Fulfilling the Irish stereotype, there are many ways to say “drunk,” for example, bollixed, hammered, blitzed, plastered and spastic. These are used when someone has gotten into too much of one of Ireland’s ultimate cultural identifiers: Guinness, or “the black stuff.”
Now, don’t be a wee eejit! Aye, yous would have more smashing craic if ye eat some class biscuits in the country where they were invented: Northern Ireland! Cheerio!