Talk:hinky

Is this defined correctly? Specific to a particular region? --Connel MacKenzie 07:30, 14 November 2006 (UTC)


 * It looks mostly correct to me, although I think I will rework the "acting in a manner as if having something to hide, or seemingly crooked" part, which is a bit too specific and strikes me as the original definer's reading too much into one particular usage. I might also list bizarre, demented, and/or depraved as additional defining synonyms.
 * It's definitely a slang term. I'm not aware of it being particular to a certain region.
 * I know it from the novels of Carl Hiaasen (who is a Floridian, if that says anything); he uses it all the time. —scs 17:17, 14 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I just checked, and it's in my computer's online copy of the Oxford American Dictionary, with a compatible definition. (The etymology given is "Origin 1950s: of obscure origin".)  So it's definitely a word. —scs 04:17, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

RFV passed. Should some of the senses be marked as new? DAVilla 16:59, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Etymology of hinky
Might it be related to the German and Dutch hinken, "to limp"? A bit like how "dodgy" or "shifty" have overtones relating to how someone moves? Cheers, -- Erik Anderson 64.125.103.252 18:25, 25 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The article currently suggests a Scots derivation, but hink lists the meaning as "to think", which seems unconnected to the meaning of hinky here. Anyone else have any thoughts / citations / etc.?  -- Eiríkr Útlendi | Tala við mig 03:41, 20 January 2011 (UTC)


 * The OED disagrees with our entry, suggesting that the word came from African-American usage, probably via hincty or hinkty (why don't we have entries for these?) I very much doubt the accuracy of our entry, but we do need more evidence to be sure.  I've changed the questionable "probably" to "possibly", and added the OED's guess.  The OED researched this in 2006, but didn't come to a firm conclusion.  If there is a British link, then it is more likely to be via Old Norse "hinka" (to limp or hobble), hence the Scots, German and Dutch connections.    D b f  i  r  s   10:55, 31 January 2011 (UTC)