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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Head shebang or head shabang. Is this term in general use?
I am now hearing ‘head sherang’ here in NZ.
“Go and see the boss, he is the head sherang around here.”
Last edited by Malmo (2010-09-25 00:35:42)
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Welcome to the forum, Malmo. Nice to see a New Zealander here.
Head shebang or head shabang. Is this term in general use?
Well, neither “head sherang” nor “head shebang” is in general use here in California—before your post, I was unfamiliar with the expression(s). Online sources make it clear that “head sherang” is the standard form in Australian and NZ English, which would make “head shebang” the reshaping.
So is “head shebang” an eggcorn? The question boils down to whether “the head shebang” makes any sense in the usual contexts in which “head sherang” is used. The problem for me is that “shebang” also seems such a vague word—it means something like “concern, matter, business.” I guess if you look at the boss as being a synecdochal stand-in for the entire enterprise s/he’s directing, “the head shebang” makes a bit of sense, though it’s a bit awkward.
Just as an aside, I’ve been hearing “shebang” used as a synonym for “shindig, big party,” as in “She had a big shebang for her birthday.” Perhaps the similarity between “shindig” and “shebang” (and that appropriately explosive “bang” at the end) is helping drive the extension of the latter’s meaning.
Last edited by patschwieterman (2010-09-25 01:45:43)
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Well it looks as though you are right … that the “shebang” I was brought up with must have been the re-shaping!
I assumed the shebang was Irish…but sherang is possibly from India/Sri Lanka.
I haven’t heard “shebang” as describing a party which is a new form for me….though as you say it sounds right.
Interesting…Thanks for the reply!
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I know shebang mostly from the expression “the whole shebangâ€, where its meaning would fit what Pat suggests, but I do recognize the “big shebang†= party usage. I’d have thought of head shebang as a blend of “(head of the) the whole shebang †with head honcho (q.v.). But for those familiar with sherang that word would probably exert some influence as well.
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I agree that it’s a very interesting formation, but not clearly an eggcorn.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-09-25 07:37:45)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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