skedaddle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skɪˈdædɫ̩/^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3][4] It is probably an alteration of British dialect scaddle “to run off in a fright”,^[4][3] from scaddle “wild, timid”,^[4] from Middle English scathel “harmful, wild”,^[4] of Scandinavian origin.^[4] Random House compares Scots and northern English skedaddle “to spill, scatter”.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of soldiers, to retreat hastily; to flee (1861, American Civil War military slang).^[6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Newspapers noted and popularized the word from the summer of 1861,^[3] though it appears earlier in an 1859 piece representing Indiana speech.^[3] It soon passed into general use for any hurried departure (1862),^[6][3] and was used of animals stampeding (1879).^[6] In dialect it also meant to spill milk.^[6][1] The noun, a hasty flight, dates from 1862 in Etymonline and 1870 in the OED.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1859 – in a piece representing Indiana speech.^[3]
• 1861 – of troops, to retreat hastily.^[6][3][4]
• 1862 – to leave in a hurry.^[6]
• 1862 – dialect, to spill.^[6]
• 1864 – skedaddler.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To leave in a hurry; to run away.
2. (dialect) To spill or scatter.

Noun

1. A hasty flight.

Word family

• skedaddler

Related words

• scat
• scram
• scathe

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press