Today's Word "Shivaree"
Published in Vocabulary
shivaree \shi-veh-REE\ (noun) - A mock serenade, a wedding night prank of clanging pots and pans to interrupt the nuptial couple until the noise-makers are invited in for an evening of refreshments and snide remarks.
"The newlyweds drove away just ahead of a shivaree of tin cans, old shoes and other odds and ends tied to the rear bumper of their car."
"Shivaree" comes from French charivari, from Late Latin caribaria "headache" borrowed from Greek karebaria, composed of kare "head" + baria "heaviness," a relative of "barometer." Today's word originated with French settlers along the Mississippi before 1805. It was especially common west of the Mississippi and its correlates are "belling" in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan; "horning" in upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western New England; and, believe it or not, "serenade," used along the South Atlantic, where hootenannies are most prevalent.
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