Since first arriving in Gaoth Dobhair, Ireland, there have been quite a few phrases and terms that I have either been reminded of or had never heard of before coming here. One term I have heard quite a bit is “craic.” I have noticed that this term tends to be used by a wide variety of people and it generally means something along the lines of “fun.” People use it in both Irish and English sentences here. An example sentence in English would be “it was good craic” and an example sentence in Irish would be “bhí craic agam,” meaning “I had fun.” While I will use this term when speaking Irish, it is probably not something I would use when speaking English given that it can get easily confused with others English words that sound very similar. It has been incredibly interesting to hear words such as this used in the daily lives of native speakers and it puts it into a better context compared to just hearing it in the classroom.
Another term/phrase that I have heard being used is “sin é,” which means “that’s it.” Based on the context I have heard it being used in, I assume it is used as an acknowledgement, similar to how a lot of English speakers have used the term “yeah” as a form of acknowledgement. It makes sense that in Irish it would be a word other than something relating to “yes” since there is no actual word that directly translates to “yes” in Irish. This term is probably something I will try to tie into when I speak Irish because it is something that native speakers use more in daily speech.
I’m hoping that by the end of this class, I will have many more words and phrases to tie into when conversing in Irish.