# Define "skank" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540 "2007-04-10T20:57:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/21 "2007-04-11T15:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Push Up Bra] In Fergie’s defense, she’s just admitted to an incontinence problem. Google it, if you must, I heard it on the radio. That doesn’t make her a skank so much as it does make her unfortunate. [/QUOTE] Fergie … are we talking about \*the \* Fergie, as in Lady Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew? ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/22 "2007-04-11T15:08:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Fergie … are we talking about \*the \* Fergie, as in Lady Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew? [/QUOTE] I believe we are talking about [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergie_%28singer%29) Fergie ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/23 "2007-04-11T15:21:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Um, when did slut become something decent to be? Did I nod off for a decade or something? “Slut” is a perjorative everywhere I’ve ever been. I’ve seen long-term friendships break up over the use of the word. Where I’m from, it’s just another word for whore. When I think of “skank,” I think of a young woman who could be attractive if she’d quit smoking, quit pissing in the alley behind the bar when the ladies’ room is full, and start wearing a bra. She looks like she could use a bath and some new clothes, but doesn’t smell too bad most of the time. She makes it clear that she is sexually available pretty much all of the time. [/QUOTE] (slight hijack) There is a documentary called “Slut” that you might want to rent. Very interesting history of the word, it’s implications, how it ruins lives. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/24 "2007-04-11T15:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] My impression is that skank is a really vicious thing to call a woman. It means not only that she dresses like a street-corner hooker, screws more men than you do, and does more drink and drug than you do, but you’d walk five blocks to spit on her. Yes, that mean. :eek: That’s why I don’t call anybody that. I don’t call anyone nappy-headed hos, either. [/QUOTE] Well missy, you can just kiss that radio career goodbye ! 😃 A slut is a woman who has intellectualized her sexual desires and is comfortable with the number of partners she has. A skank is a female who has ( sadly, IMHO ) learned that the only coin of the realm that she will ever be able to spend in the world is access to her reproductive organs. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/25 "2007-04-11T15:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=Cowboy8467] I believe we are talking about [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergie_%28singer%29) Fergie [/QUOTE] Oh, thank God! I thought I was culturally deficient or something! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/26 "2007-04-11T15:55:08Z")
Having re-read my last post, I must add that the same words and descriptions apply to men. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/27 "2007-04-11T17:55:37Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] Well missy, you can just kiss that radio career goodbye ! 😃 A slut is a woman who has intellectualized her sexual desires and is comfortable with the number of partners she has. A skank is a female who has ( sadly, IMHO ) learned that the only coin of the realm that she will ever be able to spend in the world is access to her reproductive organs. Cartooniverse [/QUOTE] For the record, I’m a guy. I have often heard women and men calling each other slut in good-natured humor. The tone for skank turns to disgust, anger, and sometimes a little pity. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/28 "2007-04-11T18:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Um, when did slut become something decent to be? Did I nod off for a decade or something? “Slut” is a perjorative everywhere I’ve ever been. I’ve seen long-term friendships break up over the use of the word. Where I’m from, it’s just another word for whore. [/QUOTE] Cartooniverse said it better than I could. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/29 "2007-04-11T18:08:18Z")
[Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=skank) says: > [@](#): > > Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/30 "2007-04-11T19:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=kidchameleon] Perhaps you heard of this tape… [/QUOTE] Yep, she slept with her boyfriend at the time, who turned around and sold the tape. How is that skanky on her part, since from what I hear it wasn’t particularly adventurous? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/31 "2007-04-11T19:29:06Z")
Google Image gives us this: [Skank](http://redneck414.tripod.com/278_skank.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/32 "2007-04-11T20:11:50Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Paris Hilton is a skank. [/QUOTE] I literally only came into this thread to see how long that would take. ---
**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/33 "2007-04-11T21:07:31Z")
As far as I’ve heard the term, it pretty much refers to a woman who sleeps around in a liberal manner with…questionable…partners (looks, reputation, or otherwise), and generally dresses in particularly trashy revealing clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/34 "2007-04-11T21:14:30Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] For the record, I’m a guy. I have often heard women and men calling each other slut in good-natured humor. The tone for skank turns to disgust, anger, and sometimes a little pity. [/QUOTE] My bad. Does that mean I can’t call you missy ? 😃 Agreed, the way the two are used involves context and tone of voice or written tone. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/35 "2007-04-12T01:14:32Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] I have often heard women and men calling each other slut in good-natured humor. [/QUOTE] My ex and my mother call themselves sluts all the time. Not that either one is promiscuous. They mean it in the sense of a lazy or bad housekeeper, which is the original definition of the word. Any way you define it, my mother is most definitely not a slut. She’s a lot like Martha Stewart, except she’s also not a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/36 "2007-04-12T04:12:33Z")
There aren’t any male equivalents for _ho, (whore,) skank, bitch_ and _slut._ From time to time a male may be called one of those words, but they all originally and generally refer to women and are used to degrade. I assume there is no psychological need to degrade men in English speaking cultures. Judging from the variety of words available for degrading women who are sexually active, there must be a strong psychological drive in our culture to besmirch their characters. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/37 "2007-04-12T14:59:27Z")
Strange drift, here. I’ve always thought it was obvious: A whore has sex for money; a slut has sex without restraint or discernment; a skank has sex and doesn’t wash. Usage of “slut” as either a maidservant or kitchen drudge, a dirty, unkempt woman, or a promiscuous woman all date back to the 15th century. **tdn** , your ex and your mother may be thinking of “slattern,” as slut has never meant quite the same thing. I’ve always understood “skank” to derive from “skanky,” describing poor hygiene (and Wikipedia claims it once meant “bad smell” or “filthy surface”) – specifically said of a woman with whom it was unhealthy or unpleasant to have sex, due to her personal habits. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/38 "2007-04-12T15:18:31Z")
This is more of a tangential comment than an effort to add anything to the definitions and senses already provided. The term “skank” replaced, to some extent, the word we used in high school to refer to a really unattractive girl: _scag_. After I left the town where that word had that meaning for almost everybody I associated with, I didn’t hear it again. Years later I heard “skank” used in a similar sense of putting down as far as possible the physical attractiveness of a woman at work. That’s when I began to wonder if the two terms were both just regionalisms. Once in a while I will still feel the urge to drag out “scag” when some female is just really hard to look at, but realizing the term doesn’t have much common usage, I’ll fall back to “dog” or “pig” or just use some other phrase to indicate her lack of appeal. I can’t recall ever using “skank” in my speech, but if I did it didn’t have all the connotations of promiscuity other posts have alluded to. Purely a lack of attractiveness, bordering on scary ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/39 "2007-04-12T15:39:16Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] There aren’t any male equivalents for _ho, (whore,) skank, bitch_ and _slut._ From time to time a male may be called one of those words, but they all originally and generally refer to women and are used to degrade. I assume there is no psychological need to degrade men in English speaking cultures. Judging from the variety of words available for degrading women who are sexually active, there must be a strong psychological drive in our culture to besmirch their characters. [/QUOTE] It’s not just “sexually active” though from the context of this thread, is it? You may be right though. My thesis: Sex is how women keep men in line. Consequently they want to keep the availability low. Consequently they are eager to punish any woman who breaks ranks. Name-calling and anathematising are their typical means of doing this. Discuss. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540/40 "2007-04-12T16:00:31Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Unkempt hair, torn stockings, untucked shirt (but only on one side) dirty bra strap and safety pin showing, runny mascara, and if you’re really on an all-time low, a broken stiletto heel. And the remaining heel is terribly worn. And you’re probably pretty drunk. [/QUOTE] You leave my mother out of this shes a saint I tell you ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-skank/399540.md?page=3)