# Skein, slang for tv series, and its origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352 "2008-02-12T22:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/1 "2008-02-12T22:27:41Z")
Variety, the showbiz publication, has so much slang that it maintains its own dictionary. One of the words they use constantly is skein, meaning a tv series. [http://www.variety.com/VR1117980756.html](http://www.variety.com/VR1117980756.html) > [@](#): > > The renewals were essentially no-brainers, encompassing some of the Alphabet web’s top-rated scripted performers. Frosh series scoring orders include “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies” and “Samantha Who?” All four have received 13-episode pickups, as is standard practice among frosh skeins. > > Network strategists have already worked out templates on how to handle remaining back-nine orders on returning shows: Some have been truncated, some scratched altogether – and a few skeins will still be asked to deliver that entire full-season order. They don’t say what the derivation of the word is. The guesses I saw online were unlikely. (Skein = ball of yarn = series of yarn threads.) Any ideas about origins? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/2 "2008-02-12T22:40:34Z")
Why is the skein –\> yarn origin unlikely? Assuming [this site](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=yarn&searchmode=none) is accurate, “yarn” has meant “tale” or “story” for close to 200 years. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/3 "2008-02-13T03:09:12Z")
The site I saw gave no cites, no history of use, nothing at all to back up skein. Yarn may equal tale, but it doesn’t follow that skein is a series of tales, and even less so that the use is limited to specifically television shows. It may be right or it may be just a wild guess trying to connect the two. I’d like to find a cite that is more solid. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/4 "2008-02-13T03:37:48Z")
Knowing how **Variety** works, it may refer to yarn. However, in baseball, “skein” is often used to mean “streak.” For instance (italics mine): > [@](#): > > Murphy played 740 consecutive games, one of the longest streaks in baseball history. The \*skein \*should have ended after 676 games when Murphy received a nine-stitch wound after his right palm got caught in a seam of Atlanta’s outfield fence. > [@](#): > > Hitting streaks: complete list of major league players with batting _skeins_ of 20 or more games in one season since 1900 > [@](#): > > _Skein_ Ends for Tommy Holmes (1945 headline) > [@](#): > > On May 15, a day sticky as flypaper at Yankee Stadium, DiMaggio singled against Chicago’s Edgar Smith. Baseball’s most sustained _skein_ of batting brilliance had begun. _(from the NY Times)_ With the phrase established in baseball as early as 1945, you can see how Variety might transfer it to TV series, which, like a batting streak, goes on for a length of time. As for the reason for the usage, “skein” is shorter than “streak” in headlines. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/5 "2008-02-13T04:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] As for the reason for the usage, “skein” is shorter than “streak” in headlines. [/QUOTE] YOu don’t really mean that as the reason, do you? [Old joke]“How old Gar Wood?” “Old Gar Wood fine. How you?” [/old joke] ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/6 "2008-02-13T05:14:33Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] [Old joke]“How old Gar Wood?” “Old Gar Wood fine. How you?” [/old joke] [/QUOTE] Hey, everybody tells that joke about Cary Grant. That’s probably because we’ve heard of Cary Grant. Gar Wood might make nice parquet flooring or a keg for beer. Now hows about stopping mit the jokes and doing some research. Research ve need. Oy do ve need research. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/7 "2008-02-13T05:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Hey, everybody tells that joke about Cary Grant. That’s probably because we’ve heard of Cary Grant. Gar Wood might make nice parquet flooring or a keg for beer. Now hows about stopping mit the jokes and doing some research. Research ve need. Oy do ve need research. [/QUOTE] I first read/heard that joke in about 1959. Earlier than I can research a hit on Google Books. I’m not sure where the Cary Grant connection comes in? Seriously. The problem with trying to research Variety and “skein” is that it’s such a common word and Variety isn’t searchable unless you pay, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/8 "2008-02-13T12:47:00Z")
Variety has a [glossary of the slang](http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=slang_results_l&query=S) they use. ETA: They don’t explain the origins of the slang often though. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/9 "2008-02-13T12:54:57Z")
(Missed the edit window). L ooks like TV series are “skeins” unless they are shown daily, in which case they are “strips”. :: shrug :: I don’t know. A skein of wool is the string that goes on and on . That seems to fit okay for a series. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/10 "2008-02-13T13:36:12Z")
Skein is also used for a line (or string) of flying birds such as geese. Seems like the sense of “string (of something)” is fairly general. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/11 "2008-02-13T13:44:04Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] YOu don’t really mean that as the reason, do you? [/QUOTE] Sure. “Skein” is 1 character shorter than “Streak,” which does make a difference to headline writers. Any excuse to save a character is a good one. Thinking more about it, I’d say that “skein” is sportswriting is probably a fancy way of saying “string” (for streak). “A string of victories” is also common baseball parlance, the idea of the victories being strung together like beads. This became “string.” A skein of yarn is a very long string, so some sportswriter probably made the change (colorful writing was an ideal for sportswriting pre-WWII) and it caught on. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/12 "2008-02-13T15:08:28Z")
_Variety_ is known for using fanciful puns. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/13 "2008-02-13T15:48:32Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] I first read/heard that joke in about 1959. Earlier than I can research a hit on Google Books. I’m not sure where the Cary Grant connection comes in? Seriously. [/QUOTE] I found over a thousand hits. [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000026/bio). [Time magazine](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827480-3,00.html). [CaryGrant.net](http://www.carygrant.net/articles/old%20cary.htm). [A Cary Grant biography](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cary-Grant-Alone-Gary-Morecambe/dp/1861054661). Did it happen? It’s usually called a “legendary” story. But it’s always about Cary Grant. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/14 "2008-02-14T02:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I found over a thousand hits. [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000026/bio). [Time magazine](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827480-3,00.html). [CaryGrant.net](http://www.carygrant.net/articles/old%20cary.htm). [A Cary Grant biography](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cary-Grant-Alone-Gary-Morecambe/dp/1861054661). Did it happen? It’s usually called a “legendary” story. But it’s always about Cary Grant. [/QUOTE] ::sigh::Youngsters:: Sorry to continue the hijack, but the earliest you list is a 1962 Time article. I can find it in newspaper stories in 1958/60/61 attributed as “How old Gar Wood” I also believe Grant denied later that he ever originated the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/15 "2008-02-14T02:19:15Z")
Legendary things normally aren’t true. As in “Cecil’s accuracy is legendary.” 😃 My point is that you asked where the Cary Grant connection comes in. For the last 40 years the joke has always been about Cary Grant. I find exactly one hit using Gar Wood’s name. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skein-slang-for-tv-series-and-its-origins/437352/16 "2008-02-14T02:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Legendary things normally aren’t true. As in “Cecil’s accuracy is legendary.” 😃 My point is that you asked where the Cary Grant connection comes in. For the last 40 years the joke has always been about Cary Grant. [/quote] You’re correct. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I find exactly one hit using Gar Wood’s name. Right again. Most of the people who remember the original? joke are dead or can’t use a computer. 🙂