posted
At the risk of starting another "It doesn't do anything" thread, does anyone know where this phrase came from? The first time I remember hearing it was on an episode of Buffy, with variants such as "wackiness ensues".
But it's all over the place now. Google it, and it's seriously everywhere.
So I was wondering whether anyone knew where it came from originally.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
Dear Word Detective: I work on a television show in which comic high jinks frequently ensue. But none of us know what "jinks" are or why they are "high." My internet research suggests that "High Jinks" was a Scottish, perhaps a drinking, game. Have you any more or better information? -- Margery Kimbrough, via the internet.
OK, I'll bite. What show involving "comic high jinks" do you work on? C'mon, you can tell me. Chances are I wouldn't have heard of it anyway. All I ever watch is old Honeymooners reruns, the Sopranos, the Simpsons and Cops. Oh, and C-Span. Lots and lots of C-Span, you betcha. Incidentally, another good question might be why "high jinks" always "ensue," rather than simply "following," "resulting," or "occurring."
All right, already, back to work. For research done on the internet, your investigation seems to have been unusually productive. "High jinks" (also sometimes rendered as "hijinks") does indeed have connections to both Scotland and drinking.
In the beginning was "jink," which is a Scots word meaning "to move suddenly, to dart out of the way or to elude capture." Etymologists believe that "jink" was probably onomatopoeic in origin, meaning that the sound of word itself was meant to suggest sudden movement, and "jink" is indeed a sudden little word. The primary use of "jink" has been in the game of rugby, where "to jink" means to dart or turn quickly to sidestep a guard or the like. "Jink" is also used by fighter pilots in air combat, where a "jinkout" maneuver is a sudden roll or twisting motion made to elude an enemy aircraft's guns.
"Jink" also apparently at one time carried the meaning of "prank," which brings us to the game of "high jinks" (also called "high pranks"), a Scottish drinking game popular with students in the 18th and 19th centuries. "High jinks" evidently involved a throw of the dice, the loser being required to either perform some ludicrous task or to drink a large bowl of liquor. One can only imagine the hilarity of such occasions, and by the mid-1800s, "high jinks" had come to mean any sort of unrestrained merry-making, foolishness or fun. And this leads me to ask the inevitable question: Would today's TV be funnier if I were drunk?"
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Incidentally, another good question might be why "high jinks" always "ensue," rather than simply "following," "resulting," or "occurring."
posted
According to my dictionary, "ensue" "commonly suggests a logical consequence or naturally expected development," and "follow" refers to any "coming after in time, position, or logical sequence."
From a movie review I found using Google: "Aboard the plane, they try to have sex in the bathroom. Hijinks ensue. When they rent a car in France, it turns out to be a tiny yellow box on wheels. Hijinks ensue." In each case, the sentence before "hijinks ensue" describes something that seems likely to lead to problems.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I believe the original was actually "hilarity ensues" and it was a phrase often (over)used in the description of the plot of sitcoms, to the point that it became a joke.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
So who used "hilarity ensues"? It doesn't sound like the kind of description I used to see in the TV guide.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
