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skedaddle (ski-DAD-l) - v., to leave hastily. n., a hasty retreat.
Another colorful 19th century Americanism, this one not coined in newspapers -- rather, it is military slang from the Civil War, first appearing in 1861 and common by 1862, especially at first with the connotations of a retreat. It quickly crossed the Atlantic, appearing in newspapers in 1862 and a Trollope novel in 1874, and is still used informally in the States. So much for going forward -- backward is more obscure. Officially, origin unknown, but some dialecticians note the existance of Scots skiddle, to spill or splash water about (from Norse roots with a sense of being wild), with the possibility of the image being fleeing soldiers being spilled across the field. Or maybe not.
---L.
Another colorful 19th century Americanism, this one not coined in newspapers -- rather, it is military slang from the Civil War, first appearing in 1861 and common by 1862, especially at first with the connotations of a retreat. It quickly crossed the Atlantic, appearing in newspapers in 1862 and a Trollope novel in 1874, and is still used informally in the States. So much for going forward -- backward is more obscure. Officially, origin unknown, but some dialecticians note the existance of Scots skiddle, to spill or splash water about (from Norse roots with a sense of being wild), with the possibility of the image being fleeing soldiers being spilled across the field. Or maybe not.
---L.
