shebang

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɪˈbæŋ(ɡ)/, /ʃə-/^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It may be an alteration of shebeen,^[4][5] though Random House calls this implausible both in sound and in sense,^[6] and both Random House and Etymonline mention French char-à-banc, a wagon with many seats, as a possible source.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hut, shed or shelter (1862);^[4][5][7] it was American slang, popularized among soldiers in the Civil War,^[5] and Walt Whitman used it.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was also applied to a vehicle (1872) and to a low tavern (1878).^[7][5] The sense of an affair, matter or business, usually in the phrase the whole shebang, is recorded from 1869,^[4][5][3][7] but its connection with the hut sense is obscure.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1862 – a hut or shelter.^[4][5][7]
• 1869 – the whole shebang, the whole affair.^[4][5][3][7]
• 1872 – a vehicle.^[7]
• 1878 – a low drinking place.^[7][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An affair, organization or set of things considered as a whole, usually in the phrase the whole shebang.
2. A rough dwelling; a shack or shanty.
3. In computing, the characters #! at the start of a script, naming the program that should run it.

Related words

• shebeen
• charabanc

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press