Wiktionary:Etymology scriptorium/2009/August

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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#Scots 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. Dbfirs 10:55, 31 January 2011 (UTC)