Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A playful or mischievous act; a prank.
- noun An underhanded act or deceitful remark.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nonsense; humbug; deceit: as, now, no shenanigan about this.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Trickery ,games ;skulduggery . To "call", "claim" or "declare" shenanigans is to rhetorically label something as officially deceitful, improper, or otherwise incorrect. - noun A deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance.
- noun Mischievous play, especially by children.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
- noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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So, I'm going to call shenanigan s on this article.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com MD Mark Hyman 2012
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This makes me wonder: What exactly is a "shenanigan" anyway?
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Of course, this kind of shenanigan isn't new in Venezuela: fifteen months ago, Chavez was defeated in his first attempt to abolish term limits after a campaign that saw its share of abuses.
Francisco Toro: Chavez's All Out Push to be President for Life 2009
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Though my OED says the etymology of the word is unknown, according to Wikipedia, that bastion of factoids, 'shenanigan' possibly originates from the Irish sionnachuighim, meaning "I play the fox."
The WritingYA Weblog: ...and furthermore...furthermore...and on top of that... tanita davis 2008
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Though my OED says the etymology of the word is unknown, according to Wikipedia, that bastion of factoids, 'shenanigan' possibly originates from the Irish sionnachuighim, meaning "I play the fox."
Archive 2008-03-01 tanita davis 2008
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Now, fair and gentle reader, this was the poetry, and you see for yourself that there was no "shenanigan" in that letter; and if a fellow
"Co. Aytch" Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment or, A Side Show of the Big Show Sam R. Watkins
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Touch it lightly, as far as money is concerned, though, for it is well to reserve the code of justice in the matter of quartz ledges -- that is, consider them all (and their owners) guilty (of "shenanigan") until they are proved innocent.
Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1835-1866) Mark Twain 1872
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Touch it lightly, as far as money is concerned, though, for it is well to reserve the code of justice in the matter of quartz ledges -- that is, consider them all (and their owners) guilty (of "shenanigan") until they are proved innocent.
Complete Letters of Mark Twain Mark Twain 1872
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This kind of shenanigan has been going on for ages, in every industry.
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Ironic that the most 'shenanigan' of the House, the guy who always reminds me of the Joker, or Sideshow Bob, has a bullet shot through his window.
cravinforclavin commented on the word shenanigan
Use to express outrage, a la Chavo Guerrero Sr., "this is a shenanigan!"
December 6, 2006
elohiwarrior commented on the word shenanigan
This word has been replaced with bernie
June 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word shenanigan
A curiosity: I've never seen one by itself. Usually they travel in packs.
December 16, 2009