Hookers and Crack One sign leaves me a little puzzled – and concerned. It simply states, “The craic in Lisdoonvarna is very good!” My oral reading of the sign is promptly corrected by a storekeeper. “It is pronounced crack – not crake,” she says. That does not allay my concern at all. Nex t morning as we take our seats on the coach for another day of John’s wit and wisdom, he asks those of us who had gone to the nearby pub the previous night – actually, all of us – he asks, “How was the crack last night?” No response. I wonder, did John learn this from his extensive Irish Tourist Board training? Is he running a side busi-

ness of some sort to supplement his tour guide income? Then he spells it for us, “c-r-a-i-c, crack.” “What?” he says, “you don’t know what craic is?” “Oh, the things I have to explain to you Americans!” When someone asks about the craic they are asking if you had fun – if you had a good time. The term is derived by taking the initial letter from six words: Ceol is from the Gaelic word for music. If pronounced, the word Ceol will sound like k-yall. So, the C of Ceol becomes the first letter of craic – to represent music. R i nc e i s t he Gael ic word for dance. Specif ically, it means to move quick ly. You mig ht have seen or hear the phrase, Rince Na

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