Scandiknavery

English

Etymology

Blend of Scandinavian +‎ knavery. Coined by Irish novelist and poet James Joyce in his 1939 novel Finnegans Wake (see quotation below).

Noun

Scandiknavery (uncountable)

1. (nonce word) Duplicity by or involving Scandinavians.
   • 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC:

     For to sod the brave son of Scandiknavery.

     Book 1, episode 2

   • 1966, A Wake Newslitter‎^[1], volume 3, page 114:

     Mrs. Christiani twice […] guesses that Kierkegaard may be behind this bit of Scandiknavery.

   • 1990, Neil Rolde, Maine: A Narrative History, →ISBN, page 6:

     In other words, had the [Viking] site in Maine been “salted?” Was this simply a new and audacious case of “Scandiknavery?”

   • 2000, Orm Øverland, Immigrant Minds, American Identities: Making the United States Home, 1870–1930, →ISBN, page 166:

     However, some myth elements that a few other Norwegian-American promoters tried to make part of the Norwegian-American homemaking argument may more readily be dismissed as what Michael Musmanno in an angry moment has called “Scandiknavery.” One such myth was […] that George Washington was of Norwegian descent.

References

• “Scandiknavery, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.