wikipedia
English
Etymology
Origin proposed <ref>Take our Word and Word Origins</ref>: Known to go back at least to year 1862 (w:Walt Whitman|Walt Whitman), shebang is suspected to originate from the French word char-a-banc, which was a bus-like wagon with a lot of seats, but no specific connection has been proven as of now. Later, w:Mark Twain|Mark Twain used it to describe a vehicle, as well as "any matter of present concern".
Alternative spellings
chebang
Noun
en-noun|-
- Any matter of present concern; thing; or business, most frequently used in the phrase whole shebang|the whole shebang.
#*1934 � w:Robert E. Howard|Robert E. Howard, s:Sluggers on the Beach|Sluggers on the Beach:
#*:"Before I'd share anything with you," he said bitterly, "I'd lose the whole shebang."
- obsolete A vehicle.<ref>Take our Word</ref>
#*1871 December 14, w:Samuel Clemens|Samuel Clemens, �Roughing It� (lecture), printed in Fred W. Lorch, �Mark Twain's Lecture from Roughing it�, in American Literature, volume 22, number 3 (November 1950), pages 305:
#*: [�] So they got into the empty omnibus and sat down. Colonel Jack says: �...What is the name of this.�<!-- [sic] period, not question mark --> Colonel Jim told him it was a barouche. After a while he poked his head out in front and said to the driver, �I say, Johnny, this suits me. We want this shebang all day. Let the horses go.�
- archaic A lean-to or temporary shelter; probably of Celtic origin. (This meaning is now lost in use, except in the expression, "there goes the whole shebang", refering to a house lost or destroyed.)
#*1889 � w:Bret Harte|Bret Harte, s:The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh|The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh
#*:They say that old pirate, Kingfisher Culpepper, had a stock of the real thing from Robertson County laid in his shebang on the Marsh just before he died.
- computing The character string "<tt>#!</tt>" used at the beginning of a computer file to indicate which interpreter can process the commands in the file. Chiefly used in Unix and related operating systems.
Derived terms
whole shebang
References
<references />
Shebang. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang By Jonathon Green, Sterling Pub. Co., Inc. 2006, p. 12611
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Word Origins
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vi:shebang
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