Is it kerbs, cribby, or kerby? Or is paths? (It's kerbs, end of discussion)
As if things weren't tense enough in Northern Ireland with the prospect of a hard border thanks to the unmitigated clusterf*ck that is Brexit, there's now a question transfixing the region.
Is the street game where you bounce a ball off a kerb called one of the following - cribby or kerby?
Here in Ireland, it's most commonly referred to as kerbs. (Some people call it paths, but they're wrong and shouldn't be encouraged)
The idea of the street game is that you bounce the ball off a kerb and catch it, thus allowing you to move into the middle of the road - specifically, the rubber partition that old housing estate roads had - and bounce the ball off the kerb from there. Hence the name, kerbs.
Of course, Northern Ireland has a different name for it and herein lies the question. The debate up north has become that hotly contested that even Gerry Adams, former leader of Sinn Féin, has entered the debate.
My contribution to Cribby name debate. The name comes from Cribpath. Crib in this context is rooted in Irish word crúb meaning foot, claw, paw. Eg CrúibÃn pigs foot. Crúbán talún a projection of land or a ridge. Crib is also the Welsh 4 ridge. Cribby it is.
— Gerry Adams (@GerryAdamsSF) March 29, 2019
The debate has been raging across social media, with many pointing to the difference in name specifically alluding to the locations in where the game itself is played.
it’s a @FeileBelfast competition, and everyone in West Belfast calls it Cribby therefore anyone entering should have to call it cribby and that’s all I’ll say on the matter.
— Bronagh Bradley (@bronagh92) March 28, 2019
Us Belfast boys showing the Ulster Scots influence in playing cribby/cribbie with a C and not a K, never mind kerbie. WTF is a kerb? It was always the crib to us scamps and street urchins. Isn't language beautiful? pic.twitter.com/LMpieEJr5f
— Ciarán MacAirt (@ciaranmacairt) March 28, 2019
Of course, there is no one specific name for it. As mentioned, there are regions of Ireland where it's called paths - but everyone knows it's really just kerbs.
Cribby, sure, the etymology that Gerry Adams points to makes sense and there's definitely evidence to support it. From our own research, kerbsy appears to be the name used for the game in England. Ireland alone, however, calls it kerbs.
So, over to you, what do you call it?
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