August 11, 1997

skell

I've heard the word "skell" several times recently, and I can't tell what it means. I think it's something like "criminal." Can you help?

Skell is a recent slang term meaning 'a slovenly person, esp. one living in the streets; a homeless person; derelict'. Example: "'Wolfman Jack' is a skell, living underground at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station in Brooklyn....'Skells' are not merely down and out. Many are insane, chucked out of New York hospitals." (N.Y. Times, 1982).

The origin of skell is uncertain. The strangest suggestion I've heard is that it's from the Latin scelus, meaning 'a wicked deed; crime; wickedness', which is plausible semantically but otherwise ridiculous. There is a long-established Scots and English word skelm (also spelled skellum and a few other ways), of Dutch origin, which means 'scoundrel', but it's effectively obsolete (except in South Africa), and the -m's presence is pesky.

In my opinion, it's most likely that skell represents a clipping of the standard word skeleton.

Skell is first found in the early 1970s. It seems to be associated chiefly with New York City.