shoneen

/ ˈʃoːniːn /

noun

1. an Irishman who imitates English ways

Word History and Origins

Origin of shoneen¹

C19: from Irish Gaelic Seoinín, diminutive of Seon John (taken as typical English name)

Example Sentences

It’s one thing that Enda Kenny is such a soulless, crawling shoneen that he’s willing to ask President Trump to bestow special favors on Irish undocumented immigrants.

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Good Father John O'Hart In penal days rode out To a shoneen who had free lands And his own snipe and trout.

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All loved him, only the shoneen, Whom the devils have by the hair, From the wives, and the cats, and the children, 227To the birds in the white of the air.

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Hence Shoneen means "a little gentry John," and is applied to upstarts and "big" farmers, who ape the rank of gentleman.

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We'll pay no more Rackrents, Says the Shan Van Vocht, We'll pay no more Rackrents, Says the Shan Van Vocht; We'll pay no more Rackrents, To upstart shoneen gents, Whose hearts are hard as flints, Says the Shan Van Vocht.

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