Some may think Wales is a classless, egalitarian paradise – or at least should be.
Everyone is a salt-of-the-earth stiff with working-class roots. We don’t do elitism. No old boys clubs. We leave that to the English toffs, don’t we?
Live in Pontcanna, Whitchurch or Cowbridge; well-compensated but vague role in broadcasting, the arts, charities, public bodies and agencies; who you know matters; decisions made behind closed doors; committee men (blazer optional) and women etc.
I’m assuming we’re all familiar with the stereotype.
The answer to this question though depends on who you ask. It’s debatable whether “the crachach” exists as it does (or used to) in the popular imagination.
The most common translations from Welsh into English are “petty gentry” or “snobs”, while “Taffia” has also been used in English.
It’s clearly a populist term, putting the person using it – regardless of their own privileges or background – on the side of “the people” against a shadowy elite. It’s nothing new to Wales and pre-dates devolution.
“Crachach” has long been used as a slur directed towards Welsh speakers deemed to have done too well for themselves – with an element of “punching down” about it. Paradoxically, it’s also been used as a slur against the Anglicised upper-middle classes1. Both uses are probably outdated now.
A broader 21st-century definition would likely be a self-replicating network that has disproportionate social capital and may or may not use this for its own advancement.
At UK and English level it’s called “The Establishment” or something similar. In Wales, as well as “crachach” and “Taffia”, terms like “Legal Wales” or the “Bay Bubble” have been used in a similar, if not completely identical, way.
You can possibly argue that it’s not as much about language, accents, education or class anymore. It’s about how easily you can gain influence and connections and what you do with them.
1. Dr Paul O’Leary, Aberystwyth University. “Welsh keywords: Crachach”. Available at: https://research.aber.ac.uk/files/18314117/Paul_O_Leary_crachach_edit_27.05.17.docx
