skid row
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]
An alteration of skid road (“road along which logs are dragged or skidded; (Canada, US, informal) downtown streets where loggers go for recreation on their time off”).[1] In 1852, skid road was first applied to a slum area at the loggers’ part of town in Seattle, Washington, USA, and before 1900 it had come into common usage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Over time, the variant skid row came to refer to a district or slum frequented by alcoholics and hobos, even in areas without a lumber industry.[2]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌskɪd ˈɹəʊ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌskɪd ˈɹoʊ/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊ
Noun
[edit]skid row (countable and uncountable, plural skid rows) (chiefly Canada, US, informal)
- (derogatory) An especially dilapidated section of a city, characterized by abandoned or run-down buildings and vices such as drug dealing and prostitution, and frequented by homeless people.
- (figuratively) A situation of great desperation or misfortune.
Alternative forms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]especially dilapidated section of a city
|
situation of great desperation or misfortune
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ “skid row, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2019; “skid row, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Margery Fee, Janice McAlpine (2001) Guide to Canadian English Usage, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 456.
