skid

n. a disreputable or unfashionable young person. Subjects: English, Youth, Derogatory, Slang

Editorial Note: There is some evidence that this term is most common in Canada. Etymological Note: Said to be a contraction of street kid, but there’s little substantiation for this.

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Citations: 2001 [Sum 41] @ song Fat Lip (Aug. 28) “Fat Lip”: As a kid, I was a skid and no one knew me by name./I trashed my own house party cause nobody came. 2003 [Mallory] @ Coquitlam, British Columbia NEXT! Body Piercing, Tattooing & Aftercare (Jan. 29) “Gaaaah!”: Skid is SUPPOSED to be a short way of saying “street kid” but society has warped it into meaning anyone that dresses “alternatively” meaning goth, punk, etc. Basecly just the people that don’t fit into the category of poplular, geek or “normal.” 2003 [holyramensw] @ Edmonton, Alberta, Canada HoLY()RAmEN-Sw…a.k.a.(JaY)‘s Blurty (May 19) “Fuck White Supremist Skinheads!”: We were going around in the pit having a good time, when a skin took down a street-kid who’s name I cannot remember. He hit him and called him a skid, who does nothing but loot in the garbage.…We got out and the the skins were waiting. A fight broke up between some of the skins and the people who they called “Skids.” 2005 [Anne] Muted Faith Forums (Jan. 17) “ Long read. Comments appreciated. Edited version in process”: Making his way out into the night he abandoned his preppy boy look, and resembled what some people might call a thug, or a skid. 2006 [wearWHATiWANT] Men.Style.com Forums (Jan. 3) “You know how people say such and such look is “over” this year…?”: Rock n roll shirts (GnR and Metallica, i was never a skid, tho a genuine fan….i’d actually wear em out to trendy nightclubs…now everyone’s got a fu%^in motley crue or led zeppelin shirt). 2006 Masochistic Onion @ Orangeville, Ontario The Hempfiles Forum (Nov. 9) “Emo being strung out for too long?”: There were no real cliques in my school, but for one exception. the skids, they hung out in the “skid pit,” some were goth, some were punk, some were whiggers, some were just those kids who dont stand out, all of them were dirty dirty kids. in fact thats what really united the skid pit, they were all dirty dirty kids. so in my school, it wasn’t like oh you’re emo, oh you’re a jock or oh you’re a stoner. you were either a skid or you weren’t. and being a skid was a bad thing. 2006 Jim Bartley Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) (Nov. 18) “Street illegal”: Jesse is 16 and a street kid, or “skid” in the unofficial parlance of social work.

Posted 21 Nov 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

There was a British band called ‘The Skids’ in the punk era - which probably either came from a contr. of street kids or was an allusion to ‘skid marks’1979

by brendan berridge 21 Nov 06, 1256 GMT

what about “skid row” - as in the area where poor/homeless people (used to) congregate?

by resourceress 22 Nov 06, 0914 GMT

There’s most likely no connection to “skid row.”

by Grant Barrett 22 Nov 06, 1102 GMT

Skid Row was a Canadian band, however. Might also be a reference to “skidmarks.”< /p>

In my high school near Toronto, somehow the word “skid” became de rigeur to describe all the metalheads in our crew. Also, “dirt kids” was acceptable.

by Skipjack Bonito 19 Dec 06, 0227 GMT

my friend wrote a book called Skids
here is her website containing the Globe and Mail review refered to above:

cathleenwith.blogspot. com

by jane 24 Dec 06, 0347 GMT