# skidaddle?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 24, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618 "2001-07-24T13:28:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@brazenSuzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazenSuzi)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/1 "2001-07-24T13:28:03Z")
:eek:
Is skidaddle a word? and if it is, what is the origin?
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/2 "2001-07-24T13:43:05Z")
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
> **[Definition of SKEDADDLE](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skedaddle)**
>
> to leave immediately : run away, scram; especially : to flee in a panic… See the full definition
But that doesn’t answer your second question. I’ll check the OED shortly and get back to you if nobody beats me to it.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/3 "2001-07-24T13:57:12Z")
Quoth the Oxford English Dictionary, compact edition:
> [@](#):
>
> prob. a fanciful formation
The editors quote another source:
> [@](#):
>
> ‘Said to be of Swedish and Danish origin, and to have been in common use for several years throughout the Northwest, in the vicinity of immigrants from those nations’ (Webster, 1864)
but immediately debunk it:
> [@](#):
>
> but there are no forms in Sw. or Da. sufficiently near to be seriously taken into account. There is some slight evidence of the currency of the word in English an dScottish dialect use before it became prominent in America, but it is doubtful how far this is of importnace for its origin.
So, as nearly as they can tell, someone made it up. 🙂
Mods, please forgive if I have again nuzzled up to the limits of acceptable use.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/4 "2001-07-24T15:00:46Z")
[Word Origins](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordors.htm#Skedaddle) dates it to 1861, but doesn’t have anything more to offer… not that I would expect this website to surpass the OED.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/5 "2001-07-24T15:02:11Z")
And will _someone_ please tell me where my manners are?
Welcome to the SDMB, **brazenSuzi**! Enjoy your stay!
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### Author:  [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/6 "2001-07-25T04:35:37Z")
The Word Mavens at Random House suggest a possible Irish origin, or perhaps military slang:
> **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=20000608)**
>
> Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading.
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### Author:  [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/7 "2001-07-27T06:40:46Z")
Except that the Irish word it suggests as an origin (“sgedadol”) doesn’t appear in any of my sources. It looks more like Scots Gaelic than Irish, but I don’t see it in my SG sources either. Could be an obsolete word, but Google’s never heard of it either. So I think maybe we can strike off that theory.
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### Author:  [@brazenSuzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazenSuzi)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2001, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/8 "2001-07-27T12:46:35Z")
Ahh thank you for your help everyone.
…and thank you kneedToKnow for the welcome 🙂
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skidaddle/73618/9 "2001-07-27T14:07:51Z")
A couple of the previous links mention the US Civil War, but I would say the word had to be in common use before the war. The panicky Union retreat from the first battle of Bull Run was lampooned in the press as “The Great Skedaddle.” That was the first major battle of the war. The word must have already been part of popular speech before the war, or the press wouldn’t have used it in describing the first battle.
The war may have reinforced the use of the word, but it doesn’t look like the war gave birth to it.