[Ramius]

You know... I'm suddenly curious about the origin of the word 'shenanigans'. I'll bet there's a good story there.

[HairOfTheDog]

Is shenanigans from Irish shee nanna gasne or from French for `I dunno'?

[Although it sounds like a word of Irish origin] one source doesn't even mention a possible Irish origin, but instead, it indicates that Spanish chanada (a short form of charranada `trick, deceit') is a likely origin. William and Mary Morris (see the bibliography) note that shenanigans could come from Irish sionnachuighim `I play the fox.' But both the sources mention German dialectic schinageln `to work at hard labor' as a possible origin for shenanigans. Apparently, the implication is `using trickery to avoid hard labor.'

A French connection is unlikely.

Take Our Word For It Archives Q-S

[Ramius]

Hmmm:
from http://www.takeourword.com/et_q-s.html#shen

"Is shenanigans from Irish shee nanna gasne or from French for `I dunno'?

One source doesn't even mention a possible Irish origin, but instead, it indicates that Spanish chanada (a short form of charranada `trick, deceit') is a likely origin. William and Mary Morris (see the bibliography) note that shenanigans could comes from Irish sionnachuighim `I play the fox.' But both the sources mention German dialectic schinageln `to work at hard labor' as a possible origin for shenanigans. Apparently, the implication is `using trickery to avoid hard labor.'

A French connection is unlikely.