shimmy English · revision 1104

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈʃɪ.mi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is usually explained as an American dialect alteration of [[chemise]] (recorded from 1837),^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) taken as a plural, as in the phrase ''shake the shimmy'',^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) though Barnhart thinks it more likely built on [[shimmer]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A chemise, in dialect and American use (1837).^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the name of a ragtime or jazz dance with much shaking of the body the word is recorded from 1917–18,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) at first in ''shimmy shake'' and ''shaking the shimmy''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) The dance caused a stir in 1919 when Gilda Gray performed it on Broadway.^(Etymonline) The verb, to dance the shimmy, is from 1919,^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) and from 1925 both noun and verb were used of an abnormal vibration, as of a car's wheels.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1837 – a chemise.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1917 – a shaking dance.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1919 – verb, to dance the shimmy.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1925 – a wobble or vibration; to vibrate.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An abnormal vibration or wobbling, as of the front wheels of a car.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A dance popular in the 1920s, marked by rapid shaking of the body from the shoulders down.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dialect)'' A [[chemise]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To vibrate or wobble abnormally.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To shake the body as in dancing the shimmy.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To climb or move by small sideways movements; to [[shinny]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chemise]]

+ * [[shimmer]]

+ * [[shinny]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}