Japan's claim to commercial whaling as a cultural expression is surely a shaky one, since it only began large-scale whaling in the 20th century – but it was taught to them by European whalers.
But what if this slab of received thinking rests on shaky foundations?
Gaël Clichy's meek defending when James Perch scored Wigan's second probably illustrates why Pellegrini prefers Aleksander Kolarov, who is not immune to the odd dicey moment, while Joleon Lescott, making a rare appearance, was also shaky.
Perhaps they know they are on shaky ground, blamed by many for vastly underestimating the consequences of allowing Poland and other new EU countries unfettered access to the employment market after they joined the union in 2004.
The Osborne initiative had a shaky start when the Scottish secretary, Alistair Carmichael, was forced to counter the impression left by the chancellor that the package itself would include greater devolution of powers than already agreed by the parties in a joint statement in June.
Thursday was the worst day so far in what has been a shaky start to the Conservative general election campaign.
The effectiveness of Tony Cascarino and a shaky display by Sunderland keeper Iain Hesford helped Gillingham win the first leg 3-2 at Priestfield, with Cascarino scoring a second-half hat-trick in the space of 26 minutes.
Of the current crop Cameron probably scrapes a pass grade on competence, but he is shaky on shared values and he relies over-much on a likeability that not everyone feels.
On Tuesday, pro-Russia forces seized parts of Debaltseve in intense street fighting, ignoring the shaky ceasefire agreement, as a deadline for removing heavy weapons from the frontlines went unheeded.
"Very frequently in those early days I'd get a cultural shock like, 'I shouldn't be here.' They'd make me really shaky".
It certainly got off to a shaky start, with Farage admitting so in an interview with the BBC's Newsnight this week, saying he had made mistakes by trying to pack too much into his schedule.
