Shack

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Shack

A shack is a type of small house

House

A house generally refers to a or building that is a dwelling or place for habitation by humans. The term includes many kinds of dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to high-rise apartment buildings....
that is in disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl

Nahuatl language

Nahuatl is a group of related languages and dialects of the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.Collectively they are spoken by an estimated Nahua peoples, most of whom live in Central Mexico....
(Aztec) word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish

Mexican Spanish

Mexican Spanish is the dialect of the Spanish language, as spoken in Mexico.Spanish was brought to present day Mexico around 500 years ago. As a result of Mexico City's central role in the colonial administration of Viceroyalty of New Spain, the population of the city included relatively large numbers of speakers from Spain....
xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack".

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Encyclopedia

A shack is a type of small house

House

Nahuatl language

Mexican Spanish

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, particularly in Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
, shacks were originally holiday homes located on crown land

Crown land

Crown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an Fee tail Estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be Title from it....
such as along river banks (especially the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australia's largest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between...
) or near beaches. They were roughly built as they were likely to get washed away in flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
s, and had no legal title

Title (property)

Title is a law term for a bundle of rights in a piece of Possession in which a party may own either a legal interest or an Equitable_interest The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties....
on the land they were built on. Now, a lot of the shack owners have freehold title to their land, and are subject to building code

Building code

A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures....
s to reduce the risk of damage or injury from floods and storms. Many are now quite grand holiday homes and summer house

Summer house

A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places of relaxation or retreat from the summ...
s. The New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
equivalent is called a bach
Bach (New Zealand)

Bach is the name given in New Zealand to structures akin to small, often very modest holiday homes or beach houses. They are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the middle class....
.

In South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, shacks (also referred to as mikhukhu or imijondolo ) are an increasingly common form of accommodation for millions of people and are mostly found in or around urban areas, particularly on the outskirts of larger cities. In recent years shack dwellers have organised major protests around the country. The largest movement of shack dwellers is called Abahlali baseMjondolo

Abahlali baseMjondolo

Abahlali baseMjondolo is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa. The movement grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy_Road,_Durban shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now operates across the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and in Cape Town....
(loosely translated: "The Residents from the Shacks"). In West Virginia and New England, shacks originally served as homes for plebieans in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, shacks later became criminal hide-a-ways at the time of the underground railroad and then prohibition. Shacks are now primarily used to house tools, other outdoor equipment, and to incite irrational dislike among those who may be driving through areas of extremely dense shack-to-field ratios. They also foster to stories and tall tales of imagined criminal activity, as noted by the recently released novel by William P. Young, The Shack.

Other meanings of the word

In amateur radio
Amateur radio

Amateur radio, often called Etymology of ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants, called "hams," use various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for Public services, recreation and self-training....
jargon
Jargon

Jargon is terminology which has been especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest....
, a shack refers to the place where an amateur radio operator
Amateur radio operator

An amateur radio operator is an individual who typically uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way communication personal communications with other similar individuals on Frequency assigned to the amateur radio service....
's radio sending and receiving apparatus is located and operated. The term originally meant that part of a ship where the radio apparatus was located and operated. This is the inspiration for the name 'RadioShack
RadioShack

RadioShack Corporation is a chain of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of North America, Europe, Central America, South America and Africa....
'.
In military aviation
Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front....
jargon, a "shack" refers to a successful, direct hit on a ground target.
Bus stop
Bus stop

A bus stop is a designated place where a public transport bus stops for the purpose of allowing passengers to board or leave a bus....
s are often referred to as "shacks" by commuters and the common passerby because some bus stops have roofs on top of the stops for shade and protection from the rain.