shanda

English

Alternative forms

• shonda

Etymology

From Yiddish שאַנדע (shande), from Middle High German schande, schante, from Old High German scanta, skanta, from Proto-West Germanic *skandu (“shame”). Doublet of shand.

Noun

shanda (plural shandas)

1. (Jewish) Shame; disgrace.
   • 2011, Teddy Bart, Shadow Seduction, →ISBN, page 171:

     A shanda is humiliation and embarrassment one's misdeed suffers upon one's family. In our faith, a shanda is a terrible sin.

   • 2012, Allegra Goodman, Kaaterskill Falls, →ISBN:

     They don't learn about their heritage. They don't learn about Israel. It's a shanda.

   • 2015, Eugene Sierras, Beyond El Camino Del Diablo: Beyond the Devil's Highway, →ISBN:

     My parents are Orthodox Jews. To them, intermarriage is considered a shanda.

Anagrams

• Dahans, adhans