Shalks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Archaic plural term for men, servants, or fellows, sometimes used to mean scoundrels or rogues
2. Old-fashioned name for a group of men, retainers, or sometimes knavish fellows in older English writing
3. Obsolete noun denoting several men or attendants, and at times carrying the sense of crafty or dishonest people

Etymology: "Shalks" is simply the plural of "shalk," an archaic English word for a servant or man-at-arms. Its roots run deep: it descends from Old English "sċealc," meaning servant, soldier or even sailor, which in turn comes from a Proto-Germanic word meaning servant or knight. The Gothic form "skalks," meaning servant, shows the word was already in use among the early Germanic peoples. The most surprising twist is how far the word drifted. The same ancestor gave German "Schalk," now meaning a joker or rogue, and Old Norse "skálkr," meaning a servant or rogue, so the sense of trickery is an old Germanic offshoot rather than a later invention. In English, the servant sense faded while the word survived mainly in older writing, and the plural form "shalks" appears mostly where that archaic sense is being recalled.