Craic

Now indistinguishable from being Irish. Borrowed from northern English and Scots “crack” (loud conversation, news, gossip) in the mid-20th century, then re-spelled in Gaelic orthography. The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest written reference to “crack” in the modern fun sense is from Flann O’Brien in 1966. The Gaelicised “craic” spelling appeared soon after and was eventually re-borrowed back into English in its Irish form. The late Irish-language scholar Diarmaid Ó Muirithe said the spelling “sets my teeth on edge.” The word kept going regardless.