Skulduggery Definition Etymology

I have just finished the Oxford edition of Eirik the Red and other Icelandic sagas. I will notice that a wicked Soceresse in the sagas is named Sculd. She is responsible for several devious acts. Could this be the source of Skulduggery? This isn`t the first time the Times has used “Skulduggery” in connection with the New England Patriots. In May, the newspaper recapitulated a 2007 “espionage incident” that resulted in a $250,000 fine against the team, saying that the “eccentric leader of the team,” Bill Belichick, had “made perhaps his most detailed comments on the espionage case and given insight into his thoughts on certain types of shenanigans” in January of this year. The Wall Street Journal also used the word in a pre-helmet Skulduggery column written by Jason Gay and published on September 3. The -duggery part of Skulduggery also has nothing to do with digging. So, is Skulduggery really of Old Norse origin? Perhaps he was describing the many invasions. Alternative spelling: skulduggery, scullduggery, sculduggery In fact, the origins of the word have more than an ironic touch of shenanigans. Although the combination of the skull and the fool alludes to the act of digging up corpses, the word itself has its roots in Scotland and the word “sculdudria”. Although “Skulduggery” is an American currency, its roots seem to lie in Scotland.

The 18th century Scottish term “Sculduddery” meant “indecency” or “violation of chastity”, then defined as “fornication or adultery”. While “Sculduddery” may have been a serious legal term in Scotland, most written examples of the term treat it as pleasant slang. dishonourable procedure; Wicked dishonesty or cunning: corruption, corruption and other such shenanigans. It is obvious that a significant part of the football universe believes that the Patriots are capable of Skulduggery, having already been punished for it in Spygate (argh with -gates; let`s give a Pulitzer to anyone who comes up with a new scandal suffix). If the Patriots were indeed guilty of what the league proposed, it seems at best to be a low-level scheme. The German “schuldig” has a similar structure – the “sch” can be pronounced as “sh” or “sk”, and of course someone who runs Skulduggery is guilty. Today, the word appears in children`s literature in the “Skulduggery Pleasant” book series and under various film titles, but perhaps most famously in Tony Blair`s emotionally charged farewell speech in which he defended the arena of politics: “If it is sometimes the place of shenanigans, it is more often the place of the pursuit of noble causes.” Shenanigans are dishonest words designed to deceive people, like your brother`s quick speech, which makes you do all his household chores and yours and give him your allowance. He is a master of Skulduggery. The club has been a famous meeting place for foreign sea captains, cunning eccentrics and half-alcoholic villains up to their necks in all sorts of shenanigans. Corporate misconduct is too often hidden in quarterly reports and is harder for most people to track.

The political shenanigans take place openly – and on C-Span – and are easier to describe. “Skulduggery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skulduggery. Retrieved 5 November 2022. This relatively rare and interesting word made headlines last week in connection with a football fury: After the opening game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers coaches said “their helmets were filled with the sounds of the Patriots` radio broadcast of the game, which made it difficult to communicate between them.” which was published on September 12. An earlier version of the story — which is no longer visible on the Times website — included the mention of Skulduggery, as a Google search shows: According to my latest, “houghmagandie” is another old Scottish word used to specifically describe adulterous sex. It was a cry I heard in my youth: “Sweet houghmagandy!” but I haven`t heard it for many years. These words are among those attributed to poets before Burns, John Anderson and Allan Ramsay, whose poetry and songs had such a strong influence on Burns – whose mastery of English, Scottish, Gaelic slang and even Old North or Norn recognized him as one of the greatest masters of the Scottish language. He loved the plasticity of these words and the way they could be inserted into his works, using other old archaic words, such as “Collie Shangies” (used by Queen Victoria in one of her diaries and describes a growling argument that arose between small collie dogs). Burns would be glad that Skulduggery still exists in everyday language today! (The word appears in his poem “Pride o` Raploch,” which says: ” That he had misled an honest girl. Doon the sloth Vennel o` sculdudderie … Regardless, it`s a mystery how “Skulduddery” in Scotland became “Skulduggery” in the United States, though the terms share obvious connotations of secrecy and impropriety. We also have no idea what the roots of “Sculduddery” might be.

On the plus side, though, we have “Skulduggery,” a big word for those moments when something sneaky happens. These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “shenanigans.” The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. Because of this syllable, skulduggery seems to be an appropriate word to connect to a dispute over helmets. After all, a popular brand of headphones — which is used for music rather than football matches — is called Skullcandy. But Skulduggery has nothing to do with skulls; Nor does it refer to the skull, a type of rowing, or the scullery, the part of a household that takes care of kitchen utensils, or the skull to move around secretly or escape responsibility. (The origin of the word Skull is unknown. The back kitchen comes from the French Escuelerie, “the servant`s office in charge of the plates”. Skulk came into English in the 12th century from a Scandinavian word meaning “shirk or malinger.”) Skulduggery was originally an Americanism, a variant of the Scottish sculduddery “fornication, obscene behavior, obscenity”. In American parlance, Skulduggery has cleaned up his act and means only “dishonorable affairs, deception”. Neither Sculduddery nor Skulduggery have a reliable etymology.

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