shenanigan

Meaning

Noun

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

Origin

• Of Unknown origin. Earliest known use comes from San Francisco in 1855 at the time of the California Gold Rush. These possibilities have been suggested:
• French manigance.
• Spanish chanada, shortening of charranada.
• Irish sionnachuighim.
• Rhine Franconian schinägeln, from the peddler's argot term Schenigelei.
• East Anglian dialect nannicking.
• 18th century German Scheinheiligens, scheinheilig