Kranki comes from cranky, but it doesn’t mean ‘angry’. If you are angry about something in Bislama, you are kros (cross).
Kranki actually means ‘crazy’ in both the sense that someone is a bit mental:
“he is one kranki dude!”
and also to be crazy about something:
“I am totally kranki for Switi mango icecream”.
Nearly everyone in Vanuatu is kranki for reggae music. At the moment there is a huge music festival happening in Port Vila called Fest Napuan. Bands from all over the region are here to play for 4 days. It is a free festival and the turnout is massive – thousands of people gathering every night to listen to some groovy reggae tunes, as well as the ubiquitous string band music, which is kind of a pacific rock-steady type music. String bands usually comprise about 4 guys with guitars and one guy who plucks a taught string attached to an empty drum – hence the ‘string’ in string band. All members sing, and the songs are usually about things like eating hamburgers with your girlfriend or sitting on beaches enjoying the breeze.
