Nor ſhould it prove thy leſs important Care, / To chuſe a proper Coat for Winter's Wear. / [...] / TrueWitney Broad-cloath with it'sShag unſhorn, / Unpierc'd is in the laſting Tempeſt worn: [...]
The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce ofshag in a single evening.' 'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'
1830 January 23,Ettrick Shepherd, “Dr David Dale's Account of a Grand Aerial Voyage”, inThe Edinburgh Literary Journal[1], volume 3, number63, page52:
But it is a braw elemental sphere this o' ours, for here's a good queich o' claret for ye, an' ashag o' butter-an'-bread.
2001, Ranjani Neriya, “Husk”, inBeloit Poetry Journal[2], volume51, number 4, archived fromthe original on3 March 2016, page21:
romancing Shelley between / sips of thermos tea and / yeastyshags of bread, sour-sweet, / from Lizzie Coutinho’s bakery.
2011, Liz Worth, Gary Pig Gold,Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981, page16:
There was that hair salon on Yonge Street called House of Lords. On a Saturday – nowadays you can't even imagine it – but imagine a hair salon having a lineup outside of people wanting to get ashag haircut.
1809, Joel Barlow,The Columbiad: A Poem[3], page34:
He saw the pine its daring mantle rear, / Break the rude blast, and mock the brumal year /Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies, / And bid all southern vegetation rise.
FromMiddle Englishschaggen, a variant ofMiddle Englishschoggen(“to shake; shake off; tremble”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a byform ofMiddle Englishschokken(“to shake; move rapidly”), related toMiddle Low Germanschokken(“to shake; tremble”). Alternatively, perhaps ultimately fromProto-Germanic*skakkōną(“to shake”), specifically continuing a post-Proto-Germanic variant*skagg-, where the non-singular stem*skag- caused the analogical replacement of the stem-final voiceless geminate consonants with voiced geminates, which was then leveled throughout the paradigm.
I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. Andshag ourselves silly. How about that?
2025 May 11, Monica Padrick, “Don Tyxote” (15:59 from the start), inKrapopolis[4], season 2, episode21, spoken by Deliria (Hannah Waddingham):
“Ha!Shagging a chair is quite odd.” “Its legs were very sexy. And I know how you are, so I expected a challenge. What did you turn into anyway?” “Oh, the dowdiest mortal woman. You should have seen it.” “Oh, I would have been all over that.” “I know!”
Chris is off somewhere in the darkness, but I'm not going toshag after him.
1997, Nelson Algren,The Last Carousel, page273:
When a White Sox scout spotted himshagging flies on a Milwaikee[sic] sandlot, and asked Felsch if he'd like to come to Chicago, Hap decided that that might be fun, too.
(dance,uncommon) To perform the dance called the shag.
1970, Richard R. Lingeman,Don't You Know There's a War On?[…], Putnam,→ISBN,page16:
Showman Monte Proser tried to cash in on the boom on a mass basis with his Dance Carnival in Madison Square Garden, where dancers lindy hopped,shagged and fox-trotted to the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Larry Clinton and Charlie Barnett[…]
Its evolutionary course is unclear; however, by the late thirties,Shag was all the rage both on and off college campuses. It became so popular, in fact, that a 1937New York Times article describes it as “the fundamental dance step for swing.”
2007, Julie Andrews, “Roman Must Die”, inThe Leonard Variations: Clarion 2007 San Diego,→ISBN,page10:
They were in the midst of an intense snog, his tongue down her throat as he tried to work out if he wanted anothershag before she left for the night, when an odd noise sounded from behind the door of 2B.
2010, Clara Darling,Hot City Nights, St. Martin's Press, published2010,→ISBN,page107:
“And feel free to come over anytime you'd like a drink and ashag.[…]
2011, Josephine Myles,Barging In, Samhain Publishing, Ltd., published2011,→ISBN,page24:
He could say yes, then just quietly leave the area without ever seeing the man again. He could even get ashag out of Charles first.
The blackbirds and robins and and[sic] tits and finches shout at each other, chups and warbles and chirrups that, loosely translated, mean “Fancy ashag?”, “Get OFF my land” or “I’ve got a great big tonker.”
2023 May 13, Kitty Drake, “This is how we do it: ‘A tired, throwaway midweek shag doesn’t interest me’”, inThe Guardian[6],→ISSN:
I’m not interested in having a tired, throwaway midweekshag. Having sex once a week means I can give it my full attention and energy.
'It turned out that it was me who was just ashag tohim. He had a girlfriend I didn't know about. He presumed I was up for some no-strings action. And the thing is, I thought I was – in theory. But in practice, I realized that I wasn't.'
2008, Bruce Cooke,Trace Elements, Eternal Press, published2008,→ISBN,page56:
"Was I just anothershag to you, Trace? Someone to bed when the offer came?"
2011, Wes Lee, “Saul”, in Zoe Dattner, Louise Swinn, editors,The Sleepers Almanac, No. 7, Sleepers Publishing,→ISBN,page135:
'Your favouriteshag?' I ask her. 'Martin Kershen.' 'He was a sexy beast.'
2008 January 9, ex_rubberdagger[username], “The Guzz Accent”, inNavy Net Forums[8]:
I'm fcuked then mate. Born and bred sarf london and the missarse is a brummie. Oh and her old man is a scouser!!¶ You all still sound like a bunch of inbreds though but it's better than the Hereford accent "alrightshag where you be"
2010, John Featherstone,Hangman's Got The Blues:
I was going down the stairs to get my bike when I ran into Jim Mudd coming up. "Alrightshag?" he said like we were best mates.
2015 February 18, “Not had a fag for weeks”, inReddit[9], r/TheRedLion:
Anyways, I'll check in every now and then, cheersshag :-)
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