What it means
A shindig is a lively party or celebration with a bit of bounce to it. Not just people standing round nursing drinks, more the kind of do with music on, voices up, somebody dancing badly and nobody minding. It’s got a slightly old-school, warm feel to it, so it works for birthdays, family dos, community parties, or any gathering that’s meant to feel like a proper occasion.
Usage examples
"They threw a massive shindig for their anniversary, marquee in the garden, live band, the lot, half the village turned up."
"Aunty Pauline is throwing a proper shindig for the fortieth wedding anniversary next Saturday at the Lakeside hotel in Cumbria, a live band, a free bar between seven and ten and a buffet that includes the secret family recipe for sausage rolls baked by my dad."
"The retirement shindig for Mister Bryson at the secondary school in Bristol on the last Friday of term ran from four in the afternoon until eleven at night, with three generations of former pupils turning up to swap stories and finish the cake."
"We’re having a little shindig at ours on Friday, nothing fancy, just tunes, crisps and whoever wanders in."
"It started as a quiet birthday drink and somehow turned into a full shindig with the neighbours in the kitchen singing along to ABBA."
Where it comes from
Shindig is generally traced back to shindy, a Scots word recorded in the early 1800s for a noisy quarrel or rowdy bit of commotion. In American English, shindig turned up by the mid 19th century and drifted away from the fighting sense, settling into its now familiar meaning of a lively party or social gathering.
