“A whiff is a puff of wind, so “skew-whiff” probably originally meant “blown askew or awry by the wind.”
Where it comes from is anyone’s guess. The earliest quotation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the “Scots Magazine” of July 1754. Apparently it’s been listed in dialect dictionaries for Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Rochdale and the Shetlands."
tjextejt over 11 years ago
Will one of the British fans please translate “skewwhiff” into American?
alondra over 11 years ago
Turned or twisted toward one side.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/skew-whiff
Momothor14 over 11 years ago
A bit askew!
JudeDog over 11 years ago
“A whiff is a puff of wind, so “skew-whiff” probably originally meant “blown askew or awry by the wind.”
Where it comes from is anyone’s guess. The earliest quotation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the “Scots Magazine” of July 1754. Apparently it’s been listed in dialect dictionaries for Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Rochdale and the Shetlands."
bresnik415 over 11 years ago
You and me both, Fred… you and me both!
AmyGrantfan51774 over 11 years ago
Fred’s sick huh ???!!!…poor Fred
kaecispopX over 11 years ago
I guess it is related to the Southern country expression of “catiwampered”.
robert423elliott 9 months ago
kaecispopX……….that would be “catywampus”! Take it from a southerner~!