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High Jinks

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He is at high jinks. The present use of the phrase expresses the idea of uproarious fun and jollity.

“The frolicsome company had begun to practise the ancient and now forgotten pastime of High Jinks. The game was played in several different ways. Most frequently the dice were thrown by the company, and those upon whom the lot fell were obliged to assume and maintain for a time a certain fictitious character, or to repeat a certain number of fescennine verses in a particular order. If they departed from the characters assigned … they incurred forfeits, which were compounded for by swallowing an additional bumper.”—Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering, xxxvi.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Hide of Land (A)
Hieroclean Legacy
Higgledy-piggledy
High-born
High Church
High Days = festivals
High Falutin or Hifaluten
High Hand
High Heels and Low Heels
High Horse
High Jinks
High Life
High Places
High Ropes
High Seas
High Tea (A)
High Words
Highgate
Highland Bail
Highland Mary
Highlands of Scotland (The)