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Dec 1, 2008
This week's themeAmericanisms This week's words skedaddle absquatulate discombobulate flummadiddle hornswoggle Give a gift that ... keeps on giving, all year long A gift subscription of AWAD 
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with Anu GargThis week we feature five Americanisms. Some of these are words from the American West. Others were popularized there even though coined elsewhere. For most, the origin remains obscure. Many of these are pseudo-Latin words, fanciful formations that may sound highfalutin today. Use these words to bring a certain earthy flavor to your discourse. But like spices in a preparation, a little goes a long way. Use them judiciously. skedaddlePRONUNCIATION:
(ski-DAD-l)
MEANING:
verb intr.: To leave hurriedly.
ETYMOLOGY:
First noticed during the American Civil War in 1861. Perhaps from northern
England dialect.
USAGE:
"And there is a widespread feeling that money originated through
funds-of-hedge-funds is liable to get jumpy at any hint of trouble
and skedaddle if losses are made. One fund-of-funds manager says he rushes
to be the first out if he suspects that others may desert a hedge fund."The Incredible Shrinking Funds; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 23, 2008. See more usage examples of skedaddle in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Death tugs at my ear and says, "Live, I am coming." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)
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