Saturday, January 14, 2012

Skeezy

Skeezy \SKEE-zee\ , adjective;
1. Sleazy, distasteful
This man has made it into the OED (source)
This U.S. slang word is first attested in 1992 on an online forum of some sort in reference to Freddy Mercury. It's either based on skeeze or a blend of sleazy and skeevy.

Skeeze is first attested in 1989 and is attributed to Sir Mix-a-Lot (of 'I Like Big Butts' fame). It is of uncertain origin (probably because it's a made-up rap word) that is possibly a blend of skank and sleaze. Skank's origin is also uncertain and sleaze is a back-formation from sleazy.

Sleazy as an adjective dates to the mid-1600's and is of unknown origin. There is a noun sleazy that is unrelated which is an abbreviation for Silesia, the Latinized form of a place name in east Germany.

Skeevy apparently originated in the 1970's in Philadelphia and was taken from Italian schifare ("to loathe").

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