Wednesday, October 10

How Skeevy!

If you are an Italian or you have friends who are, you have undoubtedly heard the word "skeeve" or "skeevey." As in, "Ew, that glass has lipstick on it- that's skeevey!" Or "Her house has cat hair all over it- that skeeves me out." Or, "I won't eat in her house, I skeeve her utensils, they're always crusty." So, you can skieve something or you can be skieved "out" by something. The adjectival form is "skeevoose," as in "I had to use Marie's bathroom while I was there- SKEEVOOSE!"

The actual spelling in Italian is "schifoso," and as far as I know, it's an adjective, not a verb, although it has evolved into such among Italian-Americans. As we tend to butcher the language, however, it comes out "skeevoose." It literally means disgusting or repulsive. I remember after taking my first semester of Italian when I learned the proper spelling and told my great-aunt at Christmas dinner. Nobody could believe the true spelling of the word, after all, the only one present who had been schooled in Italian was my grandmother.


This, amici, has been your butchered Italian word for the day.

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