SKUNKWORKS

PRONUNCIATION: (SKUNGK-wurks)

MEANING: noun: A small, loosely structured corporate research and development unit or subsidiary formed to foster innovation.

ETYMOLOGY: From Skonk Works, a fictional facility in Al Capp’s comic strip Li’l Abner that processed dead skunks, old shoes, kerosene, and other odd ingredients. Earliest documented use: 1960.

NOTES: The term gained real-world application in 1960 when Lockheed Martin used it to describe a secretive unit tasked with developing advanced fighter planes. The facility, located near a plastic factory with an acrid odor, inspired an engineer to nickname it Skonk Works, later adapted to Skunkworks. The term now symbolizes agile, creative problem-solving in corporate or engineering environments.
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SUNKWORKS - what they did when they threw to motor overboard

SKU INKWORKS - the labelling factory that imprints the Stock Keeping Unit number on an item in the store, which we call a "bar code"

SKUNKWONKS - specialists in the care and feeding of Mephitis mephitica