Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Word of the Day

shivaree
\shiv-uh-REE\
noun
1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple; charivari.
2. Informal. an elaborate, noisy celebration.

Quotes
So in blind desperation I started such a rattling "shivaree" down below as never had astounded an engineer in this world before, I fancy.
-- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1883

Origin
Shivareeis an Americanism that entered English in the 1800s from the French charivari, which in turn is thought to derive from the Latin carÄ«baria meaning “headache” on the hypothesis that such a noisy procession would cause a headache.

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