The Boozy Word History of Hijinks

Hello,

I wonder do you know the feeling? You arrange a date to meet up with old friends and with many schedules to satisfy you don’t pay any heed to that fact that’s it’s a Sunday. The gathering is a wonderful success and perhaps a little too much strong grape juice is consumed, and suddenly you recall that tomorrow is Monday and you’ll have a blog post to write.

Yes, that happened. Twice. It was a housewarming visit to a cousin followed by a housewarming visit to old school friends. We didn’t get up to any hijinks but let’s just say that Wordfoolery is a little tired today.

Hijinks is the sort of messing around I needed to nip in the bud when hosting hordes of bouncy children at play-dates and birthday parties earlier in my parenting life, but it’s a surprisingly old word and began with rowdy adults rather than energetic youngsters.

It reached its current meaning in the 1800s but dates back to the 1600s. Etymologists aren’t totally sure of its roots but do point out that to jink is a Scots verb meaning to move to and fro, or to dodge pursuit. Hence a jink is a sudden movement, such as prey might take to avoid a hunter. This provided a few linked ideas. To jink school was to play truant and to give the jink was to avoid somebody. The hi (or high) part of the word is less certain although there is a Scots word hy which means speed.

Whatever the exact origins of hijinks the term was originally used in the 1600s to describe adults playing drinking games, nearly always with dice, where the loser would have to pay a forfeit – taking a drink or paying for the next round of drinks for the other players.

By the 1800s the dice and booze games which hijinks described fell in popularity and the word found its modern meaning as any form of boisterous fun and games, even those played by children.

Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)

p.s. Want more Wordfoolery? Subscribe to the monthly newsletter “Wordfoolery Whispers”. Sign up to avoid missing out! Don’t forget to click on the confirmation email, which might hide in your spam folder. There will be a new issue later this week.