high jinks

Idioms & Phrases

high jinks

Playful or rowdy activity, often involving mischievous pranks. For example, All sorts of high jinks go on at summer camp after "lights out." About 1700 this term denoted a gambling game accompanied by much drinking, but by the mid-1800s it acquired its present meaning.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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