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skeet
slang
DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
n. — Newfoundland, derogatory
a working-class youth associated with illicit activities (e.g. drinking, smoking), especially a male.
Type: 1. Origin — The term skeet is used to describe a type of working-class youth, especially a male, who is associated with activities such as "drinking, smoking, drugs, petty crime, fighting with rival groups from other neighborhoods and generally hanging out" (Clarke & Hiscock 2009: 249). Skeets are seen as having a poor fashion sense (e.g. track suits) and a profane vocabulary (Clarke & Hiscock 2009: 249). Thus, the term is an epithet that labels those who often "[get] into trouble" (see the 2000 quotation).
The origin of the term skeet is unknown (see the first 2014 quotation). Clarke (2010b: 151) suggests the term skeet may derive from the American "skeester/skeeter", which means 'rascal', or the PEI term "skite", which means 'a young scoundrel'. Moreover, Philip Hiscock suggests that skeet may be connected to the terms "skid" or "sketchy", or even more so, to the latter half of the term "cheap-skate" (see the 2014 quotation). Clarke (2010b: 151) uses skeet as an example of a part of the NLE vocabulary that has undergone semantic change in younger generations, stating that older speakers would probably use skeet in its 'rascal' sense, whereas younger speakers would use the word in a sense similar to the North American English white trash or British English chav. Although the earliest clear Canadian attestation of skeet 'working class youth' is from 2000, Hiscock describes the term as an "old word", citing use of the term as early as the 1960s (see the 2014 quotation). The 1976 quotation, referring to a personal nickname, would support such an assessment. A lack of earlier written attestations can be seen as a result of the term's recent "new popularity" (see the 2014 quotation), as well as its prevalence in the oral domain.
At present, this meaning is not documented in any Canadian dictionary.
At present, this meaning is not documented in any Canadian dictionary.
Quotations
1976
ELAIN KELLY: [Birthplace].: St. John's. [Date of Birth].: July 1, 1959. [Nickname]: Skeet, Dumpling
2000
Kathy MacDonald picks up a Black Horse beer cap from her newly acquired collection of Newfoundland bottle tops and inquires about the term "skeet." She's told it refers to someone who gets into trouble. The term aptly describes the reputation of Shannon Murrin, the St. John's native who's about to become the subject of a book by MacDonald.
2005
Known in Bond's Path as a bit of a “hard skeet” when he was growing up, Tony often tried to avoid chores any way he could. One day after school, when he was nine years old, his mother sent him out to “make splits” for starting the morning fires in the kitchen stove.
2007
After a few months, they fell out and the tattoo/tea couple left town. Another couple of hard-looking skeets moved in. One day, I saw the new girl on the road by the mall with the "BROKE, HUNGRY" sign.
2008
Regretfully, not all three voices are equally successful. Young Kyle Holloway is convincing. Kyle is your typical St. John’s corner boy — easily led, ready to do anything on a dare, bored with school, and disinclined towards work. He is indulged, thoughtless, selfish, but in essence not such a bad type as his friend Gup. Kyle is a rowdy, not a skeet, just the kind of boy who is eventually likely to find what he wants in the discipline of the navy or the inshore fishery. You have the sense that given time and a bit of luck, Kyle will settle and sort himself out. You also have the feeling that luck is one thing that is in short supply in Kyle’s life.
2010
Some characters I just meet places, others I find because I hear their voice when I start to write. When they have their voices, they do what they are compelled to do - not what I compel them to do, because that never reads back convincingly to me - but what they do. I like them all - many are skeets, but I know how they tick, and I can't help liking them.
2014
We don't know the real origin [of skeet]. As the Wikipedia article suggests, there may be connections to some other terms, like the word "skid" is used in other places. The word [...] "sketchy" is the other word and um sketchy is possibly connected, who knows. But, the best guess seems to me that it is an old word, it's not a new word, although it has had a new popularity in the last twenty years or so. Uh, I started hearing it first in the 1970s. I have friends who heard it on the southern shore and in St. Johns in the 1960s. But it's probably related to the second half of the word "cheap-skate" which is an old-fashioned, probably 19th century term.
2015
After the screening, Sexton is helping clear the merch table, when staff come out of the theatre, one girl holding up a clear garbage bag. It’s half full of Bluestar and Jockey Club beer cans. Classic skeet, Parsons might say. [...]
What is a skeet, exactly? A scofflaw scraping through life by any means necessary, without regard for social norms, rules, or remotely current fashion trends. A skeet is generally money poor (though you can be a rich skeet), not terribly well educated, but also idolized. "People think you're putting Newfoundland down,?" Sexton says. "That?s the last thing I wanted to do!" If you grew up in St. John's, he says, "We all had our skeet impressions. It's part of the fabric of life here." Parsons puts it this way: "When you go to the heart of the heart, we're all skeets. We're Newfoundlanders. I actually clawed my way out of it."
References
- Clarke (2010b)
- Clarke & Hiscock (2009)