What is the etymology of finagle?
What is the etymology of finagle?
It has been traced to the old English dialect word “fainaigue,” meaning “to cheat, renege (especially in a card game) or to shirk work,” but at that point the trail goes cold.
Is finagle a Yiddish?
Finagle has been traced to an English dialect word, once widely known along the Welsh Marches and down into the West Country in a variety of spellings, including fainaigue.
Is finagle an English word?
finagle in American English to get, arrange, or maneuver by cleverness, persuasion, etc., or esp. by craftiness, trickery, etc.
What is the dictionary definition of finagle?
verb (used with object), fi·na·gled, fi·na·gling. to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed by out of): He finagled the backers out of a fortune. to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation: to finagle an assignment to the Membership Committee.
What is a Shmegegge?
Definitions of shmegegge. (Yiddish) baloney; hot air; nonsense. synonyms: schmegegge. type of: bunk, hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality. a message that seems to convey no meaning.
How do you remember finagle?
Finagle can be remember by breaking the word into easy pairs, such as the final angle of the game. When one appears to be losing and with no other way out, the final angle comes into play, that is cheating. When you cheat or deceive someone, you finagle.
Is the word spatula Yiddish?
But it’s even more confusing when the word in question isn’t Yiddish at all, like spatula. It is not Yiddish; its origin is unknown, although our online dictionary lists shlep, a certified Yiddish word, as a synonym. To us, traipse sounds like treif, the Yiddish word for food that isn’t kosher.
How do you say the word finagle?
The word is pronounced ‘fi-NAY-gl’ with the stress on the second syllable. It is mostly used in informal contexts in American English to show disapproval. When you finagle someone into doing something, you trick or deceive him into doing it; you get what you want by cheating or conning someone.
Which is the closest synonym for the word maneuver?
Some common synonyms of maneuver are artifice, feint, ruse, stratagem, trick, and wile. While all these words mean “an indirect means to gain an end,” maneuver suggests adroit and skillful avoidance of difficulty.
What is schmuck in Yiddish?
Next we come to ‘schmuck’, which in English is a rather vulgar definition of a contemptible or foolish person – in other words, a jerk. In Yiddish the word ‘שמאָק’ (schmok) literally means ‘penis’.
Is Yiddish a written language?
‘ Judeo-German’) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews….
| Yiddish | |
|---|---|
| Early form | Old High German Middle High German |
| Writing system | Hebrew alphabet (Yiddish orthography) occasionally Latin alphabet |
| Official status | |
| Official language in | Russia Jewish Autonomous Oblast |
What does hoodwink mean?
to deceive
Definition of hoodwink transitive verb. 1 : to deceive by false appearance : dupe people who allow themselves to be hoodwinked by such promises. 2 archaic : blindfold. 3 obsolete : hide.
