Etymology Journal ยท R
Ready to skedaddle?
Meaning
- Asking if someone is prepared to depart or leave a location quickly. It is a slightly whimsical way to signal that it is time to head home.
Playful, casual
Used in a sentence
- It is getting late so are you ready to skedaddle?
- We should probably skedaddle before the traffic gets bad.
- Once the fireworks ended, everyone was ready to skedaddle.
The backstory
The word skedaddle emerged during the American Civil War to describe a hasty retreat. It likely came from regional dialects but its exact roots remain a fun mystery.
Heard in
Nationwide
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