Re: Re[4]: [tied] Re: Brugmann's Law

So, perhaps scag is from the Scots form of "shaggy" in
the sense of "unkempt". It's a term I've heard since I
was a kid.
And perhaps skank is from scag.
The meaning is virtually the same, although scag also
has overtones of ugliness and bad taste. A skank is a
streetwalker or cheap prostitute --not usually known
for their good taste in make-up and clothes.
Scag, of couse, is or was also a slang word for
"heroin". Since I don't associate with that set, I
don't know what the current status of that meaning is.
Another phenomenon to consider is the -ing/k > -ang/k
change in Southern English for emphasis; e.g. stinky >
"stanky", thing > thang, etc. Perhaps skank < skink
--just a guess


--- "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:

> At 8:06:07 PM on Saturday, January 19, 2008, Rick
> McCallister wrote:
>
> > skag is more common in the Midwest from my
> experience. I
> > heard it all the time as a kid. Skank is extremely
> common
> > in the South --e.g. "She a cash-money skank ho'!"
> I
> > suppose they probably come from the same root
> --maybe
> > related to "shank" i.e. "leg", but that's a guess.
> Perhaps
> > there's a Scots form like that
>
> The OED, in a 6/2003 entry, says that the etymology
> of
> <skank> is unknown. For what it's worth, its
> earliest
> citation is from 1964:
>
> K. HANSON Rebels in Streets i. 8 Hanky and Pinky
> whom the
> boys called 'skanks', plain, promiscuous --
> prostitutes
> without pay.
>
> An 11/2002 addition s.v. <scag>:
>
> scag, n.
>
> * derogatory.
>
> a. U.S. (orig. in African-American usage). An
> unattractive woman.
>
> 1938 Amer. Speech 13 316/2 Slang among
> Nebraska
> negroes... A young woman of none too pleasing
> appearance is a skag or a hag. [...]
>
> b. Brit. regional (midl. and Sc.). A poor,
> scruffy
> person. rare.
>
> 1939 F. THOMPSON Lark Rise 238 They yelled:
> Old
> Hardwick skags! Come..to pick up rags To mend
> their
> mothers' pudding-bags. 2000 Times Educ. Suppl.
> (Nexis)
> 28 Apr. (Scotl. Plus) 2 In Bathgate the other
> schoolkids are calling our boys 'smelly
> skags'.
>
> Brian
>
>
>

____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs