shenanigan

English

Etymology

Uncertain in origin. These have been suggested:

• From Irish sionnachuighim (“I play the fox”),
• From Spanish chanada, a shortening of charranada (“trick", "deceit”),
• From Palatinate German dialect schinägeln (“to work hard”), from peddler’s argot Schenigelei (“work”).
• From French ces manigances (“these fraudulent schemes”).
• A parody of an Irish word, coined by English speakers: see discussion

Noun

shenanigan (plural shenanigans)

1. Trickery, games; skulduggery. To "call", "claim" or "declare" shenanigans is to rhetorically label something as officially deceitful, improper, or otherwise incorrect.

   "The advertisement said it would cost $50 but they charged me $75 at the register. I declare shenanigans." The speaker passes off the statement as having some sort of implied official effect, but in reality, it is simply a complaint.

2. A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance.

   You should learn to spot their shenanigans and avoid being fooled.

3. Mischievous play, especially by children.

Usage notes

• Much more common in its plural form.

Translations

trickery, games; skulduggery

Chinese: Mandarin: 騙局 (zh), 骗局 (zh) (piànjú), 惡作劇 (zh), 恶作剧 (zh) (èzuòjù), 詭計 (zh), 诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 鬼把戲 (zh), 鬼把戏 (zh) (guǐbǎxì) Finnish: metku (fi) French: tricherie (fr) f.

German: Schummelei (de) f. Japanese: 悪ふざけ (ja) (わるふざけ, warufuzake) Russian: махинации (ru) (maxinácii) f. pl., проделки (ru) (prodélki) f. pl., надувательство (ru) (naduvátel'stvo) n., жульничество (ru) (žúl'ničestvo) n., шулерство (ru) (šúlerstvo) n.

References

• Shenanigan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia