Conversation:

You spelt Craic wrong on the front page, surely?

When my Irish housemate first asked me how my craic was, I thought she was talking about something else...

Hi SM -

Yes, I know where you are coming from, but we had lots of discussions when I was writing the article, and it was judged (correctly, as I see it) that the word "craic" is a relatively recent spelling change. It was spelt "crack" until about 15 years ago, before the cocaine-based drug of the same name appeared on the scene, causing a lot of difficulties for the Irish in America!

Craic has since become the "official" spelling, but it really is a bit of an imposter! The article defers a bit more to the traditional spelling.