shebang
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Unknown. 1862 as “temporary shelter”, modern sense as “matter of concern” from 1869, also “vehicle” from 1872.[1][2]
Sense of “temporary shelter” perhaps from or influenced by shebeen (“cabin where unlicensed liquor is sold and drunk”), pre-1800, chiefly in Ireland and Scotland, from Irish seibin (“small mug”), diminutive of seibe (“mug, bottle, liquid measure”) Vehicle sense perhaps from unrelated French char-a-banc (“bus-like wagon with many seats”). Sense of “matter of concern” potentially from either, or onomatopoeia.
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
shebang (uncountable)
- Any matter of present concern; thing; or business.
- 1869, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), letter to publisher:[2]
- I like the book, I like you and your style and your business vim, and believe the chebang will be a success.
- 1934, Robert E. Howard, Sluggers on the Beach:
- "Before I'd share anything with you," he said bitterly, "I’d lose the whole shebang."
- 1869, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), letter to publisher:[2]
- (obsolete) A vehicle.[3]
- 1871, December 14, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), “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.”
- 1871, December 14, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), “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:
- (archaic) A lean-to or temporary shelter.
- 1862, Walt Whitman, Journal, December:
- Their shebang enclosures of bushes.
- 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.
- 1862, Walt Whitman, Journal, December:
Quotations[edit]
- For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Take our Word
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “whole shebang, the ”, Wordorigins.org, Dave Wilton, Tuesday, February 20, 2007.
- ^ Take our Word
- Shebang. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang By Jonathon Green, Sterling Pub. Co., Inc. 2006, p. 1261
Etymology 2[edit]
hash + bang or sharp + bang, after Etymology 1.
Noun[edit]
shebang (plural shebangs)
- (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.
