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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
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OP
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
According to my M-W this lovely Irish-sounding word is of unknown origin. Any clues?
In somewhat the same category is hooligan, which is apparently an eponym. But I can recall its being used by the Soviets back in Cold-War times to describe trouble-makers. Seems strange that a term so clearly Hibernian would find its way to that part of the world.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Although I don't speak or read Russian, I learned the Cyrillic alphabet, and was amazed that I could recognise a great many words of Greek or Latin origin. So, perhaps an Hibernian borrowing isn't really so strange.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Well, slithy, it looks like we've hit on one of those classic "origin unknowns" (see "the full monty" or "the whole nine yards")...but it's seems to have Celtic roots, and is listed in the Dictionary of Dublin Slang and Phrase http://homepage.tinet.ie/~nobyrne/s.htmHere's what Merriam-Webster's says: Main Entry: she·nan·i·gan
Pronunciation: sh&-'na-ni-g&n
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1855
1 : a devious trick used especially for an underhand purpose
2 a : tricky or questionable practices or conduct -- usually used in plural b : high-spirited or mischievous activity -- usually used in plural
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Well, slithy and geoff, looks like everybody's right...sorta. This is fron Quinion (just like "full monty" and "The whole nine yards", several plausable stories, none verfifiable)  SHENANIGAN
Trickery, underhand action, intrigue, skulduggery.
You'll most commonly encounter this word in the plural. It seems to have originated in California at about the time of the Gold Rush, though it was first recorded in print only in 1855. In the years since, it has been spelt in about a dozen different ways, though recent dictionaries have settled on the version above. Where it comes from is still a matter of substantial dispute; the first five dictionaries I consulted gave four different origins (Oxford Dictionaries - as so often - opting for the ultra-cautious "origin unknown"). The word looks Irish, and there was no shortage of Irishmen in the California diggings, so it's plausible to suggest the Irish word sionnachuighm as the source, meaning 'I play tricks', which is pronounced roughly as 'shinnuckeem'. Others argue it comes from an East Anglian dialect word nannicking for playing the fool. Yet others guess at a link with the Spanish word chanada for a trick or deceit, which is another half-way plausible source, considering California's history. Yet another theory was put forward in 1948 in American Speech for an origin in German schinnagel for a nail that holds the rim to the wheel, which produced the German slang terms schinageln, to work, and Schenigelei, a trick. As the man behind the market stall said, you pays your money and you takes your choice ...
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 45
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 45 |
This is a very familiar term - in my childhood, I would often hear the phrase: ". . . and don't you get up to any of your shenanigans, young lady!". I was a model child of course. 
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