Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Shenanigans...who'd have known?

--by Mike Adams

I smiled, when first I read that this week’s GBE2 prompt is shenanigans.  This would be fun, a light-hearted topic, where I could revel in youthful pranks and funny memories.  So after a quick trip down memory lane, I went to Thesaurus.com.  There, I learned that the word shenanigan is complex and encompasses a range of “pranks” that include lighthearted, mischievous fun, and vile deceit or outrageous damage.

This piqued my curiosity and sent me to mirriam-webster.com , dictionary.com and etymonline.com in order to learn more about this word that I thought I knew.

I had always believed shenanigan to be an Irish word.  Something that Darby O’Gill would utter with a tinge of affection while recounting his adventures with Ireland’s “little people”.  It turns out that the earliest record of shenanigan is dated 1855 and it originated in San Francisco or Sacramento.  Mark one against my home brewed etymology.  Next, there doesn’t appear to be much information about shenanigan, except that it possibly is derived from “chanada” or “charranada”, meaning trick or deceit.  “Hmmm, chanada, there is a word I haven’t heard in a long time…in fact, I’ve never heard it!”

OK, time to hit Merriam-webster and dictionary.com, both of which define shenanigan as either a youthful and lighthearted prank or a devious and underhanded trick.  Wow, I hadn’t known that shenanigans could be so dark.

It turns out that the list of synonyms for Shenanigan includes: atrocity, catastrophe and devilry.  To my surprise, there is even a book titled “Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports”.  This book even has a second edition.

This shows me how I've limited my use of the word shenanigan over the years.  I think perhaps I should practice deploying this word in a more diverse venue.  Say, a threat, “Just be aware, no one will like that…if you proceed, you may well find yourself on the wrong end of a shenanigan!” or “Don’t cross him, his shenanigry runs deep and it is filled with vile and heinous deceit.”

Thanks GBE2, you have broadened my understanding of a rather common word.  I’ll use my newfound knowledge only for good though, because as we all know, “with great power, comes great responsibility.

14 comments:

  1. Ahah, I learned a tidbit or two. Thanks for the expanded definition. I too, have a love of dictionaries and am often surprised when I look up a word I thought I knew well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes...this one surprised me. Some of the synonyms of shenanigan make it easy to equate the word with Joseph Kony's actions. Thanks GPD for your read! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am a word HAWG constantly looking up meanings of words. I will have to utilize that word in a post now that I know the deep meaning of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was surprised by the myriad definitions! BTW, Loved your bully post! And - Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love etymology, thanks for sharing the website. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love etymology too, particularly as it pertains to making up my own history for words. I also enjoy real etymology! Thanks! ElizabethSheryl :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Kathy, I thought it was interesting too, really surprised me. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was sure I was going to find the naughty boy side of Michael when I checked in here, but NO, instead I find a history of a word that I thought I already knew. I didn't. Thanks for the edimicashun! I love learning sumpin' new. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Jo, I seriously considered telling a true story from my past, but I've been sober for sixteen years now and to be honest, I have quit telling those stories, because often, others sit around looking disturbed while I'm laughing. Sordid...apparently is way toooooo sordid! My ability to judge appropriate is a bit damaged! OH well! Perhaps at some later date, I'll show the dark side of my past! :-) Thanks Jo!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow! I didn't know a shenanigan was borderline evil! It's fun to look up words in the dictionary - it really does broaden the horizon of a word. Nice take on the prompt!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks beachlover! I agree with you about learning the various definitions of a word...in the case of shenanigans, the fact that the etymology site referenced "chanada" made me giggle...like I've ever heard of "chanada"! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the word "shenanigans" and now I love it even more for the added depth. Thanks, Michael!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks Jane, sorry for the very tardy response and posting of your comment. I've been completely overwhelmed and haven't even looked at my blog for almost two weeks until just now!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments! :-)
My wife says comments save fairies. I mostly just want to know that the traffic hits I get on my statistics aren't Russian Spam-Bots!