Reinikaboo (speculative etymology)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

This is just a possibility.

"Reinikaboo" would seem to mean "prank" or "scam" or so.

There is an old European folklore figure, a trickster fox commonly
called Reynard. The German name is generally Reine[c]ke. Apparently
Dickens popularized this figure in "The Story of Reineke the Fox" [in
_Household Words_ (1851 I think)], apparently a prose translation of
Goethe's epic poem "Reineke Fuchs" (1794). There were also other
English translations of "Reineke Fuchs". The Reynard story was also
published (in German/Dutch) in other forms during the 19th century,
with titles "Reineke Fuchs", "Reineke Vos", etc.

"Reineke" is a plausible etymon for a word like "renicky" which is
one of the forms given in DARE. This could have been taken from
Dickens or from some other version of the story, or from an
intermediate source (e.g., children's book, stage play).

Possibly the optional/variable "-boo" is just "boo" (cf. "peekaboo",
etc.). Or maybe it's descended from "Fuchs" or equivalent.

-- Doug Wilson


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