"The English are no craic"

07-05-2019 05:27PM

Aegir wrote: »

do you all have wheels on your houses as well?

Funnily enough, as I wrote that I noticed that our trailer has been missing from the yard for a while. The neighbours probably have it.

I'm not clapping rural people on the back here, no doubt this inter-reliance is partly self-serving, and would be somewhat obsolete/unreliable in an urban environment. But I do think it translates into a personality that is generally more generous and selfless.

I find Dubs a bit mean actually. There, I said it.

cgcsb · 07-05-2019 05:28PM

Tommy Kelly wrote: »

Dubs are West Brits. Similar humour to the English themselves.

Brits are east Dubs. No seriously though, there's little in common there.

cgcsb · 07-05-2019 05:30PM

Anteayer wrote: »

I'd actually say the most boring nights out I've ever had were in Vancouver which I didn't expect. It's a lovely city but just seems to have lots of workaholic health freaks.

I was there, again with some Irish, English and French people and when we suggested going out on a midweek night (and this was for a meal and some drinks) there was a look of total disapproval. It seems to be the kind of place you do a 10k run and go to bed by 9pm.

Agree with this, even Montreal, which is the most craic of anywhere in Canada, was quite dull midweek.

Anteayer · 07-05-2019 05:38PM

It's horses for courses though and cultures vary. For all the positives about Irish culture and craic and friendliness and it is mostly very genuine, I've heard a few people (particularly from the continent but also even Irish people who've moved city) say that they've found it can sometimes be skin deep.

I've certainly noticed that in Cork City. You could be on a night out and having great banter and craic with some group of people and you meet them in a different context and they just blank you.

What I've heard from French people in particular is they find that people are all enthusiasm and craic in a bar and then if you try to actually make friends that they're cold as ice and very cliquey, again that could be a Cork thing I don't know. I certainly noticed it in university with some people who'd have their clique from school / home place. France is tough to make that initial connection but people are very open to inviting people home for dinner and that kind of thing in a way that's less common here.

I know part of that is we tend to use the pub as our living room, but it's not always interpreted the way we think it is - i.e. not inviting people around for dinner after you've known them for weeks can look very cold to a culture where that's normal.

It can be hard to have a true perspective on a culture when you're embedded in it.

Strumms · 07-05-2019 05:51PM

Any nights out I have had with English people have been great craic. I have friends, work colleagues and family who are English, whom enjoy a good night out and having fun. I think the OP may need more socialization.

completedit · 07-05-2019 07:07PM

Anteayer wrote: »

It's horses for courses though and cultures vary. For all the positives about Irish culture and craic and friendliness and it is mostly very genuine, I've heard a few people (particularly from the continent but also even Irish people who've moved city) say that they've found it can sometimes be skin deep.

I've certainly noticed that in Cork City. You could be on a night out and having great banter and craic with some group of people and you meet them in a different context and they just blank you.

What I've heard from French people in particular is they find that people are all enthusiasm and craic in a bar and then if you try to actually make friends that they're cold as ice and very cliquey, again that could be a Cork thing I don't know. I certainly noticed it in university with some people who'd have their clique from school / home place. France is tough to make that initial connection but people are very open to inviting people home for dinner and that kind of thing in a way that's less common here.

I know part of that is we tend to use the pub as our living room, but it's not always interpreted the way we think it is - i.e. not inviting people around for dinner after you've known them for weeks can look very cold to a culture where that's normal.

It can be hard to have a true perspective on a culture when you're embedded in it.

This is our worst national trait. We can be very very stand offish and reserved in the cold light of day. Like no link between seeing a person on a night out and then just randomly.

The Rape of Lucretia · 07-05-2019 07:47PM

He is more or less correct I think. But really, its a compliment to the English, and the criticism is consistent with the mindset that values 'craic'. The English are more sophisticated - or a least a significant proportion of them are. Craic, as Dunners means it, is that they arent as into childish waffle, pranks, simpleminded jokes, or basically talking bollix with great facility, which is the sort of socialising that appeals to a lot of the Irish. Craic is what fills a gap for many unable to engage in more adult or serious conversation. Fundamentally more interesting and stimulating, but not for the average 'craic' merchant. Long live no craic - lifes too short, and there are more interesting things to engage in than craic.

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 07:53PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Down home in the countryside, people would quite literally go out of their way to help you, and think nothing of it. My neighbour once footed all our turf for absolutely no reason except to be nice.

No they are not.

That is because you are FROM there.

They don't do that for everyone.

Dubliners are nice to people they know too ..anyone can do that!

Country people are nice to the people they know well in their area. It isn't that they are nicer people.

pgj2015 · 07-05-2019 07:55PM

completedit wrote: »

This is our worst national trait. We can be very very stand offish and reserved in the cold light of day. Like no link between seeing a person on a night out and then just randomly.

this would be a funny issue to see on the savage eye.

Odhinn · 07-05-2019 07:55PM

completedit wrote: »

Anyone see that interview with Donnacha O'Callaghan. He says they're polite and nice but "no craic". Is this an example of Ireland exceptionalism? I wouldn't call what English do when they go to football tournaments "having the craic" but it's not like they're all stuffy posh types. Of course, when he means having the craic he might mean something else. I do actually think it's a uniquely Irish thing. It's not like other countries aren't fun(Spanish I'd say are more extroverted and outgoing than Irish) but the craic is different. It's actually innocent enough messing combined with a self-awareness. There's gob****es who think they're great craic when really they're just ***** but I do think we have a unique sense of humour and happy go lucky attitude. Again, it's not like all Irish people are funny but it's like we have a national light hearted mentality.

What do you think?

The english are more than one tribe though - there's outside london, northern england and so on.

07-05-2019 07:57PM

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

No they are not.

That is because you are FROM there.

They don't do that for everyone.

Dubliners are nice to people they know too ..anyone can do that!

Country people are nice to the people they know well in their area. It isn't that they are nicer people.

I'm not so sure. Have you ever hitch hiked in rural Ireland? You won't be waiting for long. There isn't a culture here where helping a stranger is seen as an ordeal.

I love Dublin for different reasons, it's my home for now, and as nice as my neighbours are, there's a very strained formality. I once got locked out my apartment, so I buzzed the neighbours to buzz me in. The next day, the woman's partner knocked on the door saying that was grand as a once off but please not to make a habit of it. I was stumped.

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 07:58PM

completedit wrote: »

This is our worst national trait. We can be very very stand offish and reserved in the cold light of day. Like no link between seeing a person on a night out and then just randomly.

Very true.

I don't have this trait at all though. Dunno where it comes from.

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 08:00PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I'm not so sure. Have you ever hitch hiked in rural Ireland? You won't be waiting for long. There isn't a culture here where helping a stranger is seen as an ordeal.

I love Dublin for different reasons, it's my home for now, and as nice as my neighbours are, there's a very strained formality. I once got locked out my apartment, so I buzzed the neighbours to buzz me in. The next day, the woman's partner knocked on the door saying that was grand as a once off but please not to make a habit of it. I was stumped.

I HAVENT HITCH HIKED IN RURAL IRELAND BUT AM SURE GONNA TRY IT NOW!

And if i get murdered its YOUR fault!

I think its just considered 'unsafe' in Dublin not an ordeal.

Electric Sheep · 07-05-2019 08:03PM

Most Irish people are not as much craic as they think they are. Try listening to them sober.

Mad_maxx · 07-05-2019 08:05PM

completedit wrote: »

To know what the craic is, just look at what it isn't. Take your typical Midwestern American and there you have the antithesis of the craic and or banter

Americans are extremely dull in my experience

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 08:05PM

Electric Sheep wrote: »

Most Irish people are not as much craic as they think they are. Try listening to them sober.

And far ruder than they think they are. A lot of Irish are way more obnoxious than Americans. Particularly with the swearing and aggressive behavior sometimes. A lot of Irish people never learnt to be civil.

Alrigghtythen · 07-05-2019 08:07PM

I met the English once and they were great craic

Jimmy Garlic · 07-05-2019 08:08PM

Bunch of dryballs with ridiculous haircuts.

partyguinness · 07-05-2019 08:09PM

cgcsb wrote: »

They go to weddings and go home at 9 o'clock in silence.

Yeah and it's on a Monday- been there done that.

Mad_maxx · 07-05-2019 08:12PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Well, not that we should be turning on one another when there are innocent Brits to attack, but it's Dubliners I've always had a problem with.

They're like Londoners without the sexy accent and sexy salaries. A highly rude, very unhelpful class of people. Down home in the countryside, people would quite literally go out of their way to help you, and think nothing of it. My neighbour once footed all our turf for absolutely no reason except to be nice. Our neighbours are like family - they come into our yard and take our things without asking, and we do the same. You'd be considered an eccentric to ever complain to them with any seriousness.

I often find that Dubliners have taken from the British (whose jurisdiction was of course only really focused in The Pale) an excessive formality and a most British orderliness. They may not be as bad as the tedious British Middle classes, but there is an inflexibility there, a coldness, that doesn't tend to be found in rural Ireland.

It isn't just an urban thing either. Galwegians are lovely too, as are many people from Limerick and Cork. Although the less said about Belfast, the better.

Even though it has a lot of scum, Limerick people are very warm, unpretentious and friendly, Galway city is the smuggest place in Ireland outside D4 and D6, Galway County is incredibly clannish, Galway isn't friendly overall, mayo is a very friendly place.

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 08:17PM

I never understand how people can take issue with an entire area or the people from an entire area.

One thing I DO like about the British is they are just a tad more polite than Irish people.

partyguinness · 07-05-2019 08:18PM

It must also be borne in mind that part of the so called 'craic' and Ireland is that Ireland is a very small country and essentially still quite monocultural and indigenous. A small island of 4m people. This gives us a more homely approachable nature- almost innocent.

England or even Britain has a population touching 70m and is hugely varied and complex. It is truly multi cultural and a multi national society in a way Ireland will never ever be or could even begin to imagine. Within 30 miles radius of me is a population of 6m- more than the entire island of Ireland and I am nowhere near London.

cgcsb · 07-05-2019 08:19PM

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

No they are not.

That is because you are FROM there.

They don't do that for everyone.

Dubliners are nice to people they know too ..anyone can do that!

Country people are nice to the people they know well in their area. It isn't that they are nicer people.

My experience of the garden variety midlands culchies is a fear and loathing of outsiders coupled with resentment and gossip.

completedit · 07-05-2019 08:20PM

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Americans are extremely dull in my experience

Ash they are a nation of extremes tbf. But the ones who come to Europe will often be a bit dull. They're usually the ones who feel mortified to be American an have trump as president.

partyguinness · 07-05-2019 08:21PM

cgcsb wrote: »

My experience of the garden variety midlands culchies is a fear and loathing of outsiders coupled with resentment and gossip.

You are far braver than me to even go there in the first place. The midlands is somewhere to pinch your nose travelling between Cork and Dublin...:pac::pac:

EmmetSpiceland · 07-05-2019 08:22PM

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Even though it has a lot of scum, Limerick people are very warm, unpretentious and friendly, Galway city is the smuggest place in Ireland outside D4 and D6, Galway County is incredibly clannish, Galway isn't friendly overall, mayo is a very friendly place.

Galway gets pretty “wild” as you push further west, and I don’t mean in a party sense.

07-05-2019 08:23PM

cgcsb wrote: »

My experience of the garden variety midlands culchies is a fear and loathing of outsiders coupled with resentment and gossip.

To an extent.

By all means we'll share our farm machinery with you and mow your lawn but it doesn't mean we like you, and we all have a long list of sworn enemies.

I have one neighbour who would sooner run you over as look at you, I don't mean to say this is a utopia.

But people generally get along and will go out of their way to help you, and feed you, and speak to you -- even if you don't want their help, food, or conversation.

We are also ferociously nosey.

cgcsb · 07-05-2019 08:24PM

partyguinness wrote: »

You are far braver than me to even go there in the first place. The midlands is somewhere to pinch your nose travelling between Cork and Dublin...:pac::pac:

Its a region best seen from the window of an express train alright. Flat like the accent.

cgcsb · 07-05-2019 08:28PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

To an extent.

By all means we'll share our farm machinery with you and mow your lawn but it doesn't mean we like you, and we all have a long list of sworn enemies.

I have one neighbour who would sooner run you over as look at you, I don't mean to say this is a utopia.

But people generally get along and will go out of their way to help you, and feed you, and speak to you -- even if you don't want their help, food, or conversation.

We are also ferociously nosey.

I lived in the Midlands for a time for work. Gave an elderly neighbour a key to let in the esb man while I was in work one day. Well I'd say just about everything I own was thoroughly rooted through in rooms he had no business being in. Never again.

ILoveYourVibes · 07-05-2019 08:28PM

You never get threads about the Irish on British forums.

"The English are no craic"

Comments