Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A noisy mock serenade for newlyweds.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To salute with a mock serenade.
- noun A corruption of charivari.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
noisy banging ofpots andpans as amock serenade to anewly married couple , or similar occasion. - noun Any loud cacophonous noise or
hubbub .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a noisy mock serenade (made by banging pans and kettles) to a newly married couple
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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The word shivaree is especially common along and west of the Mississippi River.
The WELL: Sugaree Robert Hunter 2008
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Right, but I did once read that Sugaree per Lizabeth Cotton (Cotten?) was dervied ultimately from shivaree which is I believe an south asian or middle eastern word?
The WELL: Sugaree Robert Hunter 2008
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It became a custom, in anticipation of a "shivaree," to send round word to Mrs. Ferris not to be afraid, the shooting was all in fun.
Roosevelt in the Bad Lands Hermann Hagedorn 1923
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Well, anyway, when Bill and the girl got married, the boys came to 'shivaree' them.
The Second Chance 1910
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Well, anyway, when Bill and the girl got married, the boys came to 'shivaree' them.
The Second Chance Nellie L. McClung 1912
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I came to tell you that there's a scheme to raise -- to 'shivaree' you two, tonight.
Lonesome Land B. M. Bower 1905
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So in blind desperation I started such a rattling 'shivaree' down below as never had astounded an engineer in this world before, I fancy.
Life on the Mississippi, Part 2. Mark Twain 1872
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So in blind desperation I started such a rattling 'shivaree' down below as never had astounded an engineer in this world before, I fancy.
Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain 1872
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So in blind desperation I started such a rattling 'shivaree' down below as never had astounded an engineer in this world before, I fancy.
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I've helped run people's underwear up flag poles, put garlic on toothbrushes, books in pillows, broken crackers in beds (does anyone else still remember a "shivaree"?), and short-sheeted beds.
unknown title 2009
mollusque commented on the word shivaree
Do shivarees give you the goosebumps?
September 23, 2008
avivamagnolia commented on the word shivaree
A "noisy mock serenade for newlyweds," probably deriving in turn from a Late Latin word meaning "headache."
Also called regionally charivari, belling, horning, serenade.
From the French "charivari," most likely borrowed from French traders and settlers along the Mississippi River
An 1805 account describes a shivaree in New Orleans:
"The house is mobbed by thousands of the people of the town, vociferating and shouting with loud acclaim.... Many are in disguises and masks; and all have some kind of discordant and noisy music, such as old kettles, and shovels, and tongs.... All civil authority and rule seems laid aside" (John F. Watson).
The word shivaree is especially common along and west of the Mississippi River.
Regional equivalents:
~belling: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan
~horning: upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania, western New England
January 17, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word shivaree
"Another time, he might have been interested to see a shivaree, and trace all the roots of it from French and Highland customs—but not bloody now."
—Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross (NY: Bantam Dell, 2001), 701
January 26, 2010