If You’re Not Welsh, You Might Not Know the Word ‘Cwtsh’
And if you are, you might be questioning my spelling
Growing up, the word cwtsh was all around me. It was something I did everyday with my Mam, my grandparents, even with the occasional cousin (when we weren’t squabbling). It was probably one of my first words.
It means hug, but anyone who uses it will probably agree that it somehow means more than that. There’s love and kindness involved — I wouldn’t use cwtsh for what I might offer a colleague on their birthday, or the awkward exchange when I’m introduced to a friend of a friend at a bar. You have to squeeze some real affection into it.
It has other uses too, usually relating to a small, enclosed space like a cupboard under the stairs, or a ‘coal cwtsh’ used for storing coal outside, though I haven’t used it that way since my grandparents had gas central heating installed in the 90s. But primarily it’s used for wrapping your arms around someone and showing them how you feel.
As a child, I didn’t know it was a uniquely Welsh word. My part of Wales is primarily English speaking, and that was even more the case when I was young. We were aware and proud of the Welsh language — it was all around us, in place names and landmarks — but few people in my village spoke it. I didn’t always know…
