skinnymalinks

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a Scottish children's song, "Skinamalinky Long Leg," about a thin man and his adventures.[1]

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?'

References
  1. Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Luxury Edition, Oxford University Press (2011), →ISBN, page 1352
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.