The Word Shenanigan Research Paper

I have always liked the word shenanigans. It is a word that can just make my day better. The word itself just proposes a sort of mystery, posing questions about what could be going on. Hearing the word for the first time made me wonder what it could possibly mean and who came up with it. This can raise a lot of debate or conversation about the word. It makes me think why the word shenanigans is such an interesting word.
There seems to be an infinite amount of words in the English language, and new words are always being created. Nearly all of the words we speak every day have some cool backstory, or an interesting history behind the origin. A lot words come from Latin, Greek, or French origin. The same cannot be said for the word shenanigans. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the word shenanigans has no clear origin, meaning that it could have been …show more content…
I’m the type of guy who has a big sense of humor. Therefore, anytime I hear the word shenanigans, it sticks with me. One of my top three favorite movies is without doubt Super Troopers. In the movie, the troopers overuse shenanigans in front of Captain O’Hanagan, and he threatens them: “I swear to God I'll pistol whip the next guy who says shenanigans.” Officer Mac quickly deceives Officer Farva, “Hey Farva what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?” Farva, being ignorant to the situation at hand, innocently answers: “You mean shenanigans?” (IMDb.com). All the troopers lose their control and start laughing and pointing fingers at Farva, and this is one of the funniest moments in the entire movie. That scene has stuck with me, and just using the context clues I was able to determine the meaning of shenanigans and that I really liked this word. One comedy gave me knowledge for the rest of my life and a research paper topic as a senior in high