shivaree SHIV-uh-ree, noun:
1. A mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple.
2. An elaborate, noisy celebration.
verb:
1. To serenade with a shivaree.
I used to attend shivarees and I can remember the preparation and planning involved.
-- "Of pigs, jokes, and marriage." Lawrence World-Journal.
When my father got married (yes that was the 50's) his male relatives pulled a "shivaree," where they set up all kinds of surprises for the newly married couple to find on their wedding night. This included the typical short sheeting of the wedding bed, changing the content of the groom's shaving cream can, and other gags.
-- Isaac Grant Thompson, Irving Browne, Kentucky Folklore Record.
Shivaree is an adaptation of the French word charivari, which describes an old custom that celebrates a marriage. Shivaree is centered along the Mississippi.
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