skedaddle English · revision 1942

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skɪˈdædɫ̩/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is probably an alteration of British dialect ''scaddle'' “to run off in a fright”,^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) from ''scaddle'' “wild, timid”,^(MW Collegiate) from Middle English ''scathel'' “harmful, wild”,^(MW Collegiate) of Scandinavian origin.^(MW Collegiate) Random House compares Scots and northern English ''skedaddle'' “to spill, scatter”.^(RHWU)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of soldiers, to retreat hastily; to flee (1861, American Civil War military slang).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Newspapers noted and popularized the word from the summer of 1861,^(Etymonline) though it appears earlier in an 1859 piece representing Indiana speech.^(Etymonline) It soon passed into general use for any hurried departure (1862),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and was used of animals stampeding (1879).^(OED 1989) In dialect it also meant to spill milk.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) The noun, a hasty flight, dates from 1862 in Etymonline and 1870 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1859 – in a piece representing Indiana speech.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1861 – of troops, to retreat hastily.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1862 – to leave in a hurry.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1862 – dialect, to spill.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1864 – ''skedaddler''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To leave in a hurry; to run away.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dialect)'' To spill or scatter.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hasty flight.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[skedaddler]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scat]]

+ * [[scram]]

+ * [[scathe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}