Skid Row Is Named After Logging
To skid is to slide uncontrollably. The phrase skid row comes from timber, not from cars.
To skid is to slide uncontrollably; a skid is also a wooden runner or a beam used to slide heavy objects. *Skid row* comes from the second sense: logging camps in the Pacific Northwest had a *skid road* of greased logs down which timber was dragged to the water, and the rough district that grew alongside it took the name. Seattle claims the original. The word is Old Norse *skith*, a stick of wood — the same word that gives *ski*.
- To slide. *The car skidded.*
- A runner. *Landing skids.*
- A sliding beam. *A skid.*
- Skid row. *On skid row.*
- Old Norse — *skith*, wood. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | skid | Skidding. |
| Noun | skid | A skid. |
| Past | skidded | Skidded. |
| Compound | skid row | Skid row. |
| Related | ski | A ski. |
- The lorry skidded on ice.Sliding.
- A helicopter's skids.Runner.
- Skid row began with logs.History.
Skid phrases
- Skid row — a rundown district, from a logging skid road
- On the skids — declining fast
- Put the skids under — hasten someone's downfall
- Hit the skids — start failing
- Skid marks — the rubber left by braking tyres
Probably from Old Norse *skith*, a stick of wood or snowshoe, the same source as *ski*.
Where does skid row come from?
From logging camps, where a skid road of greased logs carried timber to the water. The rough district beside it took the name.
Is skid related to ski?
Yes. Both come from an Old Norse word meaning a stick or length of wood.