Shenanigans
Etymology
American English from the 1850s, around the California Gold Rush, and of genuinely unknown origin. Proposed sources include an Irish phrase meaning roughly "I play the fox," along with Spanish and German candidates, none of them proven. It almost always appears in the plural, and covers everything from children’s pranks to underhanded financial "funny business."
noun · /shuh-NAN-ih-gunz/
Playful mischief, or sly and dubious behavior.
What it names
A flexible word spanning harmless hijinks to shady dealings — useful precisely because it can wink at both at once.
Example
The auditors found no fraud, just some creative shenanigans with how travel was expensed.
Related idea
Hijinks are almost always harmless high-spirited fun; shenanigans can shade into genuinely dubious or deceptive behavior.