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Shack vs Shag - What's the difference?

shack | shag |

In obsolete terms the difference between shack and shag

is that shack is to feed in stubble, or upon waste while shag is hairy; shaggy.

As nouns the difference between shack and shag

is that shack is a crude, roughly built hut or cabin while shag is matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.

As verbs the difference between shack and shag

is that shack is to live in or with; to shack up while shag is to make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.

As an adjective shag is

hairy; shaggy.

shack

English

(wikipedia shack)

Etymology 1

Some authorities derive this word from (etyl)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A crude, roughly built hut or cabin.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
    • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=6 citation , passage=The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks?; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]}}
  • Any unpleasant, poorly constructed or poorly furnished building.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To live in or with; to shack up.

    • Etymology 2

    Obsolete variant of shake. Compare (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Grain fallen to the ground and left after harvest.
  • (obsolete) Nuts which have fallen to the ground.
  • (obsolete) Freedom to pasturage in order to feed upon shack .
  • * 1918, Christobel Mary Hoare Hood, The History of an East Anglian Soke [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=OCLC11859773&id=rI0iE-yqyAMC&q=%22right+to+shack%22&prev=http://books.google.com/books%3Flr%3D%26q%3D%2522right%2Bto%2Bshack%2522&pgis=1]
    • [...] first comes the case of tenants with a customary right to shack their sheep and cattle who have overburdened the fields with a larger number of beasts than their tenement entitles them to, or who have allowed their beasts to feed in the field out of shack time.
  • * 1996, J M Neeson, Commoners [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0521567742&id=2CqhjjiwLtEC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&sig=3geUREguU3vTYj_05PtAfzFODDA]
    • The fields were enclosed by Act in 1791, and Tharp gave the cottagers about thirteen acres for their right of shack .
  • (UK, US, dialect, obsolete) A shiftless fellow; a low, itinerant beggar; a vagabond; a tramp.
    • (Forby)
  • * Henry Ward Beecher
    • All the poor old shacks about the town found a friend in Deacon Marble.
    Derived terms
    * common of shack

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To shed or fall, as corn or grain at harvest.
  • (obsolete) To feed in stubble, or upon waste.
    • (Grose)
  • * 1918, Christobel Mary Hoare Hood, The History of an East Anglian Soke [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=OCLC11859773&id=rI0iE-yqyAMC&q=%22right+to+shack%22&prev=http://books.google.com/books%3Flr%3D%26q%3D%2522right%2Bto%2Bshack%2522&pgis=1]
    • first comes the case of tenants with a customary right to shack their sheep and cattle who have overburdened the fields with a larger number of beasts than their tenement entitles them to, or who have allowed their beasts to feed in the field out of shack time.
  • (UK, dialect) To wander as a vagabond or tramp.

    • Anagrams

    *

    References

    shag

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ), from Old Norse skaga, to protrude.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.
  • * (John Gay)
    • true Witney broadcloth, with its shag unshorn
  • Coarse shredded tobacco.
  • * 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia'', Faber & Faber 1992 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 535:
    • He was rather unshaven as well and smelt strongly of shag .
  • A type of rough carpet pile.
    • Derived terms
    * shaggy * shagginess * shaggy-dog story * shagger

    Verb

    (shagg)
  • To make hairy or shaggy; to roughen.
  • * J. Barlow
    • Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) hairy; shaggy
    • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 2

    (Common Shag) Perhaps a derivative of Etymology 1, above, with reference to the bird's shaggy crest.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Several species of sea birds in the family Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant family), especially the , Phalacrocorax aristotelis , found on European and African coasts.
  • *1941 , (Ernestine Hill), My Love Must Wait , A&R Classics 2013, p. 7:
  • *:He ran back and picked up a dead bird that had fallen. It was not a duck but a shag .
    • Derived terms
    * Auckland shag () * Bounty shag () * Campbell shag () * Chatham shag () * Heard shag () * imperial shag () * Kerguelen shag () * king shag () * Macquarie shag () * Stewart Island shag ()

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) caused the analogical replacement of the stem-final voiceless geminate consonants with voiced geminates, which was then leveled throughout the paradigm.

    Verb

    (shagg)
  • To shake, wiggle around.
  • To have sexual intercourse with.
  • To masturbate.
  • To chase after; especially, to chase after and return (a ball) hit usually out of play
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1974 , year_published=1999 , edition=paperback , editor= , author=Robert M. Pirsig , title=Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , chapter= , url= , genre= , publisher=Harper Torch , isbn=9780060589462 , page=77 , passage=Chris is off somewhere in the darkness, but I'm not going to shag after him. }}
  • To perform the dance called the shag.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A swing dance.
  • (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * 2007 , Julie Andrews, "Roman Must Die", in The Leonard Variations: Clarion 2007 San Diego , ISBN 9787774574500, page 10:
    • They were in the midst of an intense snog, his tongue down her throat as he tried to work out if he wanted another shag before she left for the night, when an odd noise sounded from behind the door of 2B.
  • * 2010 , Clara Darling, Hot City Nights , St. Martin's Press (2010), ISBN 9780312536954, page 107:
    • “And feel free to come over anytime you'd like a drink and a shag .
  • * 2011 , Josephine Myles, Barging In , Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), ISBN 9781609285920, page 24:
    • He could say yes, then just quietly leave the area without ever seeing the man again. He could even get a shag out of Charles first.
  • (slang) A casual sexual partner.
  • * 2003 , Freya North, Pip , Harper (2003), ISBN 9780007462254, unnumbered page:
    • 'It turned out that it was me who was just a shag to him . He had a girlfriend I didn't know about. He presumed I was up for some no-strings action. And the thing is, I thought I was – in theory. But in practice, I realized that I wasn't.'
  • * 2008 , Bruce Cooke, Trace Elements , Eternal Press (2008), ISBN 9781897559369, page 56:
    • "Was I just another shag to you, Trace? Someone to bed when the offer came?"
  • * 2011 , Wes Lee, "Saul", in The Sleepers Almanac, No. 7 (eds. Zoe Dattner & Louise Swinn), Sleepers Publishing (2011), ISBN 9781742702995, page 135:
    • 'Your favourite shag ?' I ask her.
    'Martin Kershen.'
    'He was a sexy beast.'
    Synonyms
    * (casual sexual partner) see also .

    Etymology 4

    Blend of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Canada, Northwestern Ontario) A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.
    • Synonyms
    * stag and doe, stag and doe party (qualifier) * social, wedding social (qualifier)

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * gash * hags

    Synonyms

    * See also English blends English terms with unknown etymologies ----