Talk:skank

I changed it from "To dance the skank" to "To skank" as the skank isn't like the fox trot, it has never been called the skank, nor should it ever. Skank in that context is a verb.

You cannot define "skank" as "to skank", that is a circular definition. If you wish to define it more accurately please write a definition for it. - TheDaveRoss 21:15, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

You cannot say that it is a verb if you say lets dance the skank. The verb is dance in that case. besides, I think that I skank enough to know that you say "lets skank", if anyone would say lets dance the skank to me, they would get laughed out of the skank pit. If that is a definition of the verb form, that still doesn't make sense to me as it isnt called the skank.

Something can be a verb and a noun. "Let's waltz" and "let's dance the waltz" are both fine. Equinox ◑ 01:02, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Etymology wrong?

Those etymologies look made up. I heard "skanky" years before I heard "skank". Skanky seems like a humorous alteration of stanky, itself a humorous intensification of stinky. Skanky when I first heard it had the specific meaning of "smelling of unclean genitals, especially female ones". 66.92.203.220 13:54, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

I'll need to do some digging to get a reference for ya, but a definition I had seen is a derogatory tem specifically aimed at skinny lascivious women. Skinny and rank if you will... I'll look and see what I may find on that - in the meantime if anyone else knows of this definition and can provide info(?). --Amedeofelix 11:43, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Chambers derives skanky from African-American slang skank, "dirt", but they don't have a proper entry for the latter, only the dance sense. Equinox ◑ 01:01, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Verb: steal

I remember this being used at my British school in the '90s as a slang term for steal, rather like pinch or filch. Google has a few uses in this sense: "Some excellent photoss [sic] there Aidan so I skanked a few." "i skanked a load of boxes from morrisons before moving!" "My Mom almost threw me out of the house when I skanked a TCM 2 poster from my local video store." 86.131.86.108 09:11, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

I can find a bare few references to it meaning "cheat", "steal", and "betray" or "disrespect". None of this usage seems to go back very far or have remained in use. I'll see if I can collect the citations, though. DCDuring TALK 09:24, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Could conceivably be related to gank (to cheat), perhaps. Equinox ◑ 12:41, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

Etymology

I heard that the meaning applied to women is derived from the Jamaican meaning; ie. a woman who dances. Clarification on this matter would help us. Mostlyharmless 02:27, 29 May 2009 (UTC)