shebang

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Alternative spellings 1.3 Noun 1.4 Derived terms 1.5 References

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Origin proposed ^[1]: Known to go back at least to year 1862 (Walt Whitman), shebang is suspected to originate from the French word char-a-banc, which was a bus-like wagon with a lot of seats, but no specific connection has been proven as of now. Later, Mark Twain used it to describe a vehicle, as well as "any matter of present concern".

[edit] Alternative spellings

• chebang

[edit] Noun

shebang (uncountable)

1. Any matter of present concern; thing; or business, most frequently used in the phrase the whole shebang.
   • 1934 — Robert E. Howard, Sluggers on the Beach:

     "Before I'd share anything with you," he said bitterly, "I'd lose the whole shebang."

2. (obsolete) A vehicle.^[2]
   • 1871 December 14, Samuel Clemens, “Roughing It” (lecture), printed in Fred W. Lorch, “Mark Twain's Lecture from Roughing it”, in American Literature, volume 22, number 3 (November 1950), pages 305:

     […] So they got into the empty omnibus and sat down. Colonel Jack says: “...What is the name of this.” Colonel Jim told him it was a barouche. After a while he poked his head out in front and said to the driver, “I say, Johnny, this suits me. We want this shebang all day. Let the horses go.”

3. (archaic) A lean-to or temporary shelter; probably of Celtic origin. (This meaning is now lost in use, except in the expression, "there goes the whole shebang", referring to a house lost or destroyed.)
   • 1889 — Bret Harte, The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh

     They say that old pirate, Kingfisher Culpepper, had a stock of the real thing from Robertson County laid in his shebang on the Marsh just before he died.

4. (computing) The character string "#!" used at the beginning of a computer file to indicate which interpreter can process the commands in the file. Chiefly used in Unix and related operating systems.

[edit] Derived terms

• whole shebang

[edit] References

• Notes:

1. ^ Take our Word and Word Origins
2. ^ Take our Word

• Shebang. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang By Jonathon Green, Sterling Pub. Co., Inc. 2006, p. 1261[1]
• Take our Word
• Word Origins

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.