shack-wacky

adj. restless or irritable from staying indoors or in one location for a long period; stir crazy; afflicted with cabin fever. Subjects: English, Slang

Editorial Note: The Dictionary of American Regional English has a single 1991 citation of this term from a informant in Wisconsin who described it as a logger’s and trapper’s term.

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Citations: 1940 Edith Kneipple Roberts Tamarack p. 294: “Poison Pinky,” it was agreed, had gone “shack-wacky.” 1973 William H. Gass New York Times (June 24) “Wisconsin Death Trip” p. 18: People became “shack-wacky.”…They went insane with a frequency which would be significant if one knew what was meant by it. 1997 LaVonne Telshaw Camp Lingering Fever: A World War II Nurse’s Memoir p. 81: I’m going shack-wacky and must get away from here, even if it’s only for a day or so. 2007 Patricia Robertson Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) (Feb. 17) “Baby, it’s cold outside”: By mid-winter, we’ve got more than just a mild case of seasonal affective disorder nipping at our heels. Some say it’s the length of the deep freeze and the intense social isolation that drives many of us mad. We even have a name for it: “shack wacky.”

Posted 19 Feb 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend