Quick links
shinny
[< Scottish dial. shinny, shinty game played with a ball and curved sticks, perhaps < the whack of stick against shin]
DCHP-2 (May 2016)
1a†n. — Sports
a form of hockey played on a road or street with hockey sticks and, usually, a ball.
Type: 2. Preservation — Shinny is a preservation from British or Scottish English, in which it was used to refer to a game similar to field hockey (see OED-3, s.v. "shinny" n.1).
Quotations
1843
The church of San Augustinho is, I think, the most superb of those churches where gold-leaf most predominates; but a very different structure is the "Catedrale Nueva" - what there is of it. [...]
The bare earth is the floor, and tag-rag and bobtail boys, were playing at tag, shinny, and ball, within its magnificence.
1883
No doubt Mr. Edwin Arnold is very much at home in Persia and ancient Sanscrit, but it would take a very, very, big book to hold all he does not know about Canada and Canadian games, and when he asks us to believe that the Indians originally played a game of hockey or shinny, and that they learned to net their stricks from the Persians, through the early French masters of Canada, he is clearly off his base.
1902
[Playing] shinny in the snow upon the roadway in front of the school was none too exciting.
1910
. . . the boys and girls were playing "shinny," which is an old and honourable game, father or uncle of hockey.
1933
Our good old game of shinny, Jim, To hockey now has grown; Played with fancy sticks on shining skates We would sure have proudly owned. Though the sport seems just as jolly As our game was then, you know, But somehow lacks the old-time ring Of fifty years ago.
1963
But the boy playing shinny in the street may be dreaming of the NHL
2013
We kids played shinny on the street by the church and pitched horseshoes on the vacant lot at the side.
1bn. — Hockey
a loosely organized game resembling hockey, played on ice with a puck and without referees (see Image 1).
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Shinny has undergone semantic change in Canada and has come to denote a similar game to meaning 1a, although played on ice. Shinny is widely believed to be the precursor to hockey (see, e.g. the 1894 quotation).
See also OED-3, s.v. "shinny" (draft additions June 2006), which is marked "orig. Canad."
See also OED-3, s.v. "shinny" (draft additions June 2006), which is marked "orig. Canad."
Quotations
1894
HOCKEY AS IT IS NOW PLAYED How it Differs From the Good Old-Fashioned Game of "Shinny." THE RINKS ARE TOO SMALL At the Present Time There is Room For Only Seven Men In Each Team SOME POINTS ABOUT THE GAME The great winter pastime in Canada, especially among the young men, is hockey. To the rural reader the name "hockey" is a puzzle, and there are many persons who think that each player must be armed with some such strange weapon as a tennis racquet or lacrosse stick. 'Tis Really Shinny The name may seem strange, is a very simple game [sic] and is a modification of that old country sport, familiarly called "shinny." Anyone, and I presume that there are many, who have had to stay in after school, for having broken a window in the school, will vividly remember all the ins and outs of the game that caused so much trouble to the school teachers in days gone by. A Little More Scientific Shinny and hockey are much the same, the chief difference being that the latter is a more scientific game. In the more crude pastime, the only rule ever heard of was to "shinny on your own side," and the punishment imposed was generally a crack on the head.
1916
The contest was decidedly reminiscent of ye olde time shinny and was the most ragged exhibition put up this season. It was a case of every man following the puck; positions were forgotten, combination was among the lost arts and the game was constantly delayed on account of offsides, of which there were a million or more during the three periods.
1953
Most of the soldier boys [in Kingston, Ont.] were quite at home on skates. They could cut the figure eight and other fancy figures, but shinny was their first delight.
1965
A scrambly production usually held without benefit of referees, shinny is popular among youngsters.
1965
They knew how difficult it was to obtain an adequate sheet of ice in Kingston for neighborhood "shinny."
1978
Surely it should now be evident to the management of the Maple Leaf Hockey Club and Team Canada that the rock-'em sock-'em backlot shinny which they advocate will never (or should never) defeat teams which play hockey the way it should be played (i.e., the Montreal Canadiens and the European teams like Russia, Czechoslovakia, etc.)
2007
"They're playing shinny hockey, right? Canadian as a cruller. As Canadian as rock salt on the driveway. You can't improve on the concept, right?" He twirled some melted cheese around a bread stick and popped it in his mouth.
2016
A team of young Scarborough hockey players got to hit the ice with the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum Wednesday, March 16. [...] A couple minutes after the Sharks skated out, the Marlies surprised them by coming back out to practice with them. The pros helped the Sharks work on skills like passing and shooting, before playing shinny with them.
1cn. & adj. — Hockey
a hockey game characterized by poor or rough play.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — After the establishment of rules and organization in hockey (c. 1875), shinny was often used in reference to hockey games that were particularly rough, crude or disorganized. The connotation is that the game has degenerated into the undisciplined form originating in the late 19th century.
Quotations
1907
On very slushy ice Montreal defeated Shamrocks in eastern hockey game by score of five to three. Good hockey was impossible and the game was simply an exhibition of shinny.
1935
The boys came out with that "do or die" look in their eyes and the game developed into a shinny match and several penalties were handed out to both teams.
1964
No shinny stuff for these boys . . . taught in big league style by Richard Caouette. . . .
1984
Regretably, our Canadian game of hockey has degenerated into a game of shinny consisting mostly of slapshots and skating.
1989
The Maple Leafs and Blackhawks played some good ol' fashioned duke-it-out shinny last night and when the final bell (or was that a horn?) had sounded, the boys from the Windy City had scored a 7-5 decision over Toronto. Hawks 7, Leafs 5
Peace on earth? Good will toward men? Uh-uh. No way. Not in the Norris Division and not between the Hawks and Leafs.
1999
Steve Thomas and then Mike Johnson, with 12:17 to play, scored to tie the game and the last half of the third period degenerated into a knock-around game of shinny in which both sides enjoyed scads of chances.
2n. — Hockey, slang
a nickname for hockey.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Although quite soon after the establishment of organized hockey strong distinctions were made between hockey and shinny, the term came to used as a nickname for organized hockey, not only informal games (see meaning 1b).
See: hockey
Quotations
1963
Shinny lore has it that the schedule is much tougher in the second half.
1989
Unlike most Canadian kids who grow up dreaming of a shinny career, Wilson had a goal of being a professional baseball player since he was 12 years old.
1999
The object of this game of shinny, other than to outscore the opponent, is to actually take some shots at the opponent's goal. The Canadiens, obviously intent on entertaining the paying customers, went more than 12 minutes without a shot to start the game. Then they went more than 19 minutes of the second period with only one shot at Ed Belfour.
References
- OED-3
Images
Image 1: A game of shinny (meaning 1b) played at McGill University, 1901. Source: Library and Archives Canada. Photo: William Notman & Son
