skinnymalinks

English

Alternative forms

• skinnymalink
• skinny malink

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a Scottish children's song, "Skinamalinky Long Leg," about a thin man and his adventures.

Noun

skinnymalinks (plural skinnymalinkses)

1. (informal, UK, dated in US) A skinny person.
   • 1995, Emma Donoghue, Hood, Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 202:

     'But she's a skinnymalinks.'
     'She had lots of puppyfat before puberty stretched her out. […]

   • 1995 April 9, Wallace Arnold, “Lunch and a little light bulimia with friends”, in The Independent:

     Too often, the media have played down the positive aspects of bulimia, displaying endless photographs of skinnymalinkses, none of whom look as if they could down more than as^[sic] dozen tubes of Pringles (haven't you tried them? oh but you must!) without leaving the lavatory in a state of disarray.

   • 1999, Marian Keyes, Last Chance Saloon, Poolbeg, →ISBN, page 423:

     'Oh, Lord, you've turned into a right skinnymalinks,' she noticed. 'Is that because of the boyfriend?'