{"id":563,"date":"2019-04-15T17:55:53","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T16:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/?p=563"},"modified":"2019-04-15T17:55:56","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T16:55:56","slug":"cwtch-the-hug-invented-by-the-welsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/cwtch-the-hug-invented-by-the-welsh\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Cwtch&#8217; the hug invented by the Welsh."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>\u2018Cwtch\u2019 has no literal English translation, but is an emotionally significant embrace and an intrinsically Welsh word that evokes a sense of home.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>By Kate Leaver for the BBC<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>25 June 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m a quarter Welsh. My darling grandmother grew up in the Rhondda Valley, a small mining town where her father was the school principal. She didn\u2019t speak a lot of Welsh, other than to delight us by reciting the longest train station name in the world (Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch). I was always aware, though, of the word \u2018<em>cwtch\u2019<\/em>. She didn\u2019t use it often, but I knew it was special; it was almost said in a whisper. I remember her using it once in hospital, when we first thought she was dying. It\u2019s a special sort of cuddle, she said. And that it is: a \u2018cwtch\u2019 (pronounced \u2018kutch\u2019, to rhyme with \u2018butch\u2019) is the Welsh word for a cuddle or hug, but it\u2019s also so much more than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its second meaning is a cubbyhole or cupboard; a small space in which to store things safely. Blend those two meanings and you get a better idea of what the word means: it\u2019s the wrapping of your arms around someone to make them feel safe in the world. It\u2019s precisely what my grandmother needed, and gave, as she started to see her life slip away from her. I remember nuzzling into her neck, smelling the Youth Dew perfume she wore on her papery skin, and feeling like there was no safer space in the world. That is exactly how a cwtch ought to make you feel: safe, warm, comforted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>t\u2019s an emotionally significant embrace and an intrinsically Welsh word that evokes a sense of home. My grandmother was some 17,000km from her Welsh home when she died in her sunburnt adopted home of Sydney, Australia. It is of little surprise to me that she would use that word then, wanting, probably, to transport herself back to where she grew up. It\u2019s in times of fear, danger, distress and melancholy that we most need a cwtch. It\u2019s not a casual gesture of affection; it\u2019s a profound one, and it was invented by the Welsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Hugs are for everyone; cwtches are only for a few<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just a cuddle or a hug \u2013 it\u2019s something special and something I wouldn\u2019t do with everyone,\u201d said Amy Jones, a Welsh Londoner whose mother comes from Cardiff and father from the Valleys. \u201cA cwtch is what my parents would give me when I was young and had fallen over, it\u2019s something my husband and I do on the sofa when we\u2019re in a blissful cocoon, it\u2019s what I give my friends when they\u2019re stressed or sad. A cwtch is something you do when you\u2019re overflowing with joy and love at another person\u2019s sheer existence in your life that you can\u2019t help but try and squeeze that love into them; it\u2019s a safe space of love and comfort for someone who needs it; it\u2019s all the best parts of being alive and loving someone, in a pair of arms. Hugs are for everyone; cwtches are only for a few, very special people in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite not being Welsh themselves, Jones\u2019 husband and friends know the word and they\u2019re well aware how much it means to Jones \u2013 both as code for \u2018I need emotional support\u2019 and as a motif of her Welsh identity. Like my grandma, Jones uses the word to take herself back to her roots. \u201cI haven\u2019t lived with my family in six years, but the word cwtch takes me right home. But more than that \u2013 when someone asks if I want a cwtch, they\u2019re doing so because they know how much it means to me, and it makes me feel incredibly seen and understood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/1600_900\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn33q.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/624_351\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn33q.jpg\" alt=\"The word cwtch is intrinsically Welsh and evokes a sense of home (Credit: Credit: Photos by R A Kearton\/Getty Images)\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The word cwtch is intrinsically Welsh and evokes a sense of home (Credit: Photos by R A Kearton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Mercedes Durham, senior lecturer in sociolinguistics at Cardiff University, says that we use words like cwtch to distinguish ourselves as having a particular national identity. \u201cLanguage has a lot to do with our identity and our culture. The word \u2018cwtch\u2019 is used by Welsh speakers and English-speaking Welsh people to indicate that they\u2019re Welsh. It\u2019s an emblem of being Welsh. In linguistics, we talk about the commodification words, and using them to sell an identity. People use this word to prove that they are Welsh. In gift shops, there are mugs and T-shirts that say \u2018everyone can hug, only the Welsh can cwtch\u2019. There are strong positive connotations for Welsh people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, the word \u2018cwtch\u2019 is used both by Welsh-speaking people and English-speaking Welsh people. It\u2019s even gaining a little traction in the English language, at least with people who have Welsh friends or family. Jonathan Dent, senior assistant editor of new words at the Oxford English Dictionary, has noticed an uptake in its usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u2018Hug\u2019 and \u2018cuddle\u2019 might be serviceable English equivalents, but neither of them will ever convey everything that \u2018cwtch\u2019 does<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/uk_news\/wales\/6521971.stm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">named as Wales\u2019 best-loved word in 2007<\/a>, has been used in wedding vows and is now flourishing in new contexts. A Twitter search shows the word in significant daily use on the platform, with people looking forward to a&nbsp;cwtch&nbsp;from their&nbsp;<em>cariad<\/em>[sweetheart], longing for a&nbsp;cwtch&nbsp;from anyone or offering one another virtual *cwtches*.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says there are other Welsh words we might use out of their traditional linguistic context, but we may not always get across the full nuance of their meaning. \u201cThe meanings of the Welsh words&nbsp;<em>hiraeth<\/em>&nbsp;(\u2018a sense of homesickness or nostalgia; longing; wistfulness\u2019) and&nbsp;<em>hwyl<\/em>&nbsp;(\u2018a stirring feeling of emotional motivation and energy; a feeling which inspires passionate eloquence\u2019) are often said to be impossible to capture in English, although we still have to try. In the case of cwtch, \u2018hug\u2019 and \u2018cuddle\u2019 might be serviceable English equivalents, but neither of them will ever convey everything that&nbsp;\u2018cwtch\u2019&nbsp;does to someone who has grown up with the word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/1600_900\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn379.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/624_351\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn379.jpg\" alt=\"Cwtch was named as Wales\u2019 best-loved word in 2007 (Credit: Credit: Ian Gibson\/Alamy)\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Cwtch was named as Wales\u2019 best-loved word in 2007 (Credit: Ian Gibson\/Alamy)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is an enchanting profoundness to the word \u2018cwtch\u2019 that is not entirely translatable in English. And yet, it\u2019s so lovely to add foreign words to our vocabulary, especially when we can\u2019t quite land on the right English word. \u201cOne explanation for why we start using these words outside our own language is that there is a semantic gap in our own language or an experience we can\u2019t quite articulate and then we discover a word for it in another language and we latch onto it,\u201d said Dr Tim Lomas, professor in positive psychology at the University of East London and author of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebrown.co.uk\/books\/detail.page?isbn=9780349417189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Happiness Dictionary<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like the word \u2018<em>hygge\u2019<\/em>. Hygge is everywhere these days, and we use it to try and capture some of that enviable Nordic lifestyle. These words are more than words; they\u2019re about a way of life and a state of mind. I don\u2019t see why cwtch couldn\u2019t have a similar movement to hygge. It would allow us to make a way of living around it, around cosiness and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>We need cwtches more than ever<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Could \u2018cwtch\u2019 be the new \u2018hygge\u2019? Could we use it to evoke and sell a sense of comfort and warmth? Could its popularity be an endorsement of intimacy and kindness? Eifion Griffiths, a third-generation Welsh textiles maker and owner of wool company Melin Tregwynt, thinks we very well could. \u201cLike our interest in the concept of hygge, using the word cwtch is a contrast to a world of darkness and danger,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re upset, you need a cwtch. If you\u2019re wandering around happy, a cwtch doesn\u2019t come into it. We need cwtches more than ever, I think, because it\u2019s not a very comfortable world at the moment. You have to understand, when you give someone a cwtch you\u2019re not coming on to someone. It\u2019s a non-threatening hug, it\u2019s not a danger or a threat. It\u2019s a safe space, something that takes you back to your childhood, something that makes you feel warm \u2013 not just physically but emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/1600_900\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn312.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/wwfeatures\/wm\/live\/624_351\/images\/live\/p0\/6b\/n3\/p06bn312.jpg\" alt=\"Eifion Griffiths: \u201c[A cwtch is] a safe space\u2026 something that makes you feel warm \u2013 not just physically but emotionally\u201d (Credit: Credit: Henn Photography\/Getty Images)\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Eifion Griffiths: \u201c[A cwtch is] a safe space\u2026 something that makes you feel warm \u2013 not just physically but emotionally\u201d (Credit: Henn Photography\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some days, there\u2019s nothing I\u2019d like more in this world than a cwtch from my sweet, doting grandmother. She was an exemplary giver of cwtches: warm, generous, affectionate without reserve. She was, despite leaving the Rhondda Valley as a teenager, idiosyncratically Welsh, and to show that, she\u2019d use words like \u2018cwtch\u2019. It is a deeply significant word to anyone who was born in Wales, and truly anyone who loves someone Welsh. She\u2019d be proud to think that more people had started using it, that more people were actively making one another feel safe and warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Cwtch\u2019 has no literal English translation, but is an emotionally significant embrace and an intrinsically Welsh word that evokes a sense of home. By Kate Leaver for the BBC 25 June 2018 I\u2019m a quarter Welsh. My darling grandmother grew up in the Rhondda Valley, a small mining town where her father was the school [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":564,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toursofwales.co.uk\/wandering-bard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}