 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004skive off
Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? > Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same > Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? M-W.com says, probably.  SignatureBest - Donna Richoux >> Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same >> Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? > > M-W.com says, probably. Does not. The M-W is an American dictionary that doesn't include British English slang (yet). SignatureSimon R. Hughes > >> Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same > >> Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? > > > > M-W.com says, probably. > > Does not. You're right -- I saw the etymology and didn't notice the different definition. In too much of a hurry. >The M-W is an American dictionary that doesn't include > British English slang (yet). You do know that American dictionaries include plenty of uses that are chiefly British, right? I just flipped through "British English:A-Zed" and checked, as examples, jumble sale, fossick and burke: all in M-W. How far along the scale of "slang" of any country it goes would be hard to say. But yes, I'd expect it to contain more US slang than UK. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux >>>> Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same >>>> Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > How far along the scale of "slang" of any country it goes would be hard > to say. But yes, I'd expect it to contain more US slang than UK. Actually, the usage of "skive" meaning "play truant" is probably too regional to be picked up by many foreign dictionaries. SignatureSimon R. Hughes > Actually, the usage of "skive" meaning "play truant" is probably > too regional to be picked up by many foreign dictionaries. Skiver = idler was not regional in Britain after the Second World War, since it was common military jargon, therefore passed on to millions of servicemen of all regions and all socia classes. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > Skiver = idler was not regional in Britain after > the Second World War, since it was common > military jargon, therefore passed on to millions > of servicemen of all regions and all socia classes. My wife claims that it was popular in Alabama in the 1970s. Her grandmother didn't like skiving off (which included napping while the sun is out). > Skiver = idler was not regional in Britain after > the Second World War, since it was common [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Don Phillipson > Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) I remember as a child in school in the eighties it was common to accuse someone who had been off sick of having "skivelitis". Is it common for /r/ to mutate to /l/ in these circumstances? In alt.usage.english, BMC wrote: >I remember as a child in school in the eighties it was common to accuse >someone who had been off sick of having "skivelitis". > >Is it common for /r/ to mutate to /l/ in these circumstances? I would guess that it's the influence of "tonsillitis" rather than any general mutation. FWIW my NSOED has *litis: 39, *ritis: 35. SignatureMike Barnes Cheshire, England Simon R. Hughes a écrit: [...] > Actually, the usage of "skive" meaning "play truant" is probably > too regional to be picked up by many foreign dictionaries. Actually, that was the only usage I was familiar with. Your post prompted me to look into my English-French dictionaries ; Robert & Collins (1993) and Robert & Collins Super Senior (2000) know of no other meaning. My old trusty Harrap's Standard (1973) was the only one to consent to give me the French translation for 'skive' = 'pare leather'. (In case anyone is interested, it's 'doler' or 'drayer'.) SignatureIsabelle Cecchini >You do know that American dictionaries include plenty of uses that are >chiefly British, right? I just flipped through "British English:A-Zed" >and checked, as examples, jumble sale, fossick and burke: all in M-W. >How far along the scale of "slang" of any country it goes would be hard >to say. But yes, I'd expect it to contain more US slang than UK. Skive, meaning to evade work, was current in the RCAF in the 50s and 60s. WW2 caused a lot of Brit slang to cross the pond, since there were plenty of Canadian sevicemen in England and the Commonwealth Training Plan brought many RAF to Canada temporarily. >>Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same >>Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? > > M-W.com says, probably. MWCD11 doesn't even have this use for the word "skive." Is it possible that M-W.com is more up-to-date and complete than MWCD11? (Answer: "no") SignatureMartin Ambuhl > Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same > Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? No, it comes from the French _esquiver_, which means "dodge". The English "skive" (verb), denoting "pare or trim leather" comes from Old Norse _skífa_, which means "slice" (verb). SignatureSimon R. Hughes > Does "skive off", meaning "to evade work", come from the same > Scandinavian "skive" that means "to pare leather"? [COD10 for this use] – ORIGIN C20: perh. from Fr. esquiver ‘slink away’. [COD10 for the leather-working verb] – ORIGIN C19: from ON skífa; rel. to shive. [MW11CD has only the leather-working verb] Etymology:perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse sk*fa to slice [OED2 has the leather-working verb] - a. ON. skífa (Norw. skiva), related to ME. schWve shive n. [... and a dialectic intransitive verb meaning "To move lightly and quickly; to dart.] - Of obscure origin. [... and your meaning] - perh. ad. Fr. esquiver, to dodge, slink away, but cf. skive v.2 [where v.2 is the "move lightly &c." one] [... and three noun uses of "skive"] SignatureMartin Ambuhl |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.