Table of Contents
Is finagling a real word?
verb (used with object), fi·na·gled, fi·na·gling. to trick, swindle, or cheat (a person) (often followed by out of): He finagled the backers out of a fortune.
What is the origin of finagle?
It has been traced to the old English dialect word “fainaigue,” meaning “to cheat, renege (especially in a card game) or to shirk work,” but at that point the trail goes cold. Perhaps the word finagle is related to the word feign (and/or feint).
Is finagle a Yiddish?
Finagle has been traced to an English dialect word, once widely known along the Welsh Marches and down into the West Country in a variety of spellings, including fainaigue.
What is a Finagler?
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value. financial finaglers who were suspected of insider trading.
What finagling means?
1 : to obtain (something) by indirect or involved means finagle a ride home. 2 : to obtain (something) by trickery He finagled his way into the concert. intransitive verb. : to use devious or dishonest methods to achieve one’s ends I have long craved a convention where someone had to wheel and deal, …
What does it mean when someone calls you MacGyver?
make or repair something
The Oxford Dictionaries state that to “MacGyver” is to make or repair something “in an improvised or inventive way, making use of whatever items are at hand”, eg “he MacGyvered a makeshift jack with a log”.
Is kaput German or Yiddish?
Origin of kaput From German kaputt, though more often rendered kaput in English; via Yiddish קאַפּוט (kaput, “lost, dead”). The same word has also been borrowed by many other languages, with approximately the same meaning.
What does Fadangle mean?
Definition of fandangle 1 : an ornate or fantastic ornament stitched all over … with fandangles in fruit-colored threads— Audrey Barker.
What is tweaking Urban Dictionary?
For the uninitiated, according Urban Dictionary “tweaking” means not making sense or saying something stupid. But it is a phrase that has been used in black culture for many years, and it basically means ‘he’s crazy’.
Where did MacGyver originate?
Early evidence of the verb MacGyver goes back to the 1990s, but it was likely used colloquially in the late 1980s. To fix something without benefit of tools or a manual is called “to MacGyver a solution,” after the television show in which Richard Dean Anderson disarmed nuclear bombs with paper clips.
Where does the word “finagle” come from?
As is so often the case with colorful words, the exact origin of “finagle,” which first appeared in American English in the 1920s, is a bit cloudy. It has been traced to the old English dialect word “fainaigue,” meaning “to cheat, renege (especially in a card game) or to shirk work,” but at that point the trail goes cold.
What does finagling mean?
finagle 1 To cause something to happen through scheming or deception. How on earth did that lowly intern finagle a meeting with… 2 To scheme or deceive. I don’t trust Tom—he’s known for his finagling. More
How do you use finagled in a sentence?
To obtain or achieve by cleverness or deceit, especially in persuading someone: finagle a day off from work; finagled a reservation at the popular restaurant. 2. To cheat; swindle: shady stockbrokers who finagle their clients out of fortunes.