Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

skank

/ˈskeɪ̯ŋk/ noun, adjective, verb

Forms skanks skanking skanked

  1. noun (derogatory, slang) A lewd and disreputable person, often female, especially an unattractive person with an air of tawdry promiscuity.
  2. noun Anything that is particularly foul, unhygienic or unpleasant.
  3. adjective Lewd, vulgar, skanky.
  4. adjective Foul, unhygienic.
  5. noun A dance performed to ska, dub, or reggae music.
  6. noun (music, uncountable) A style of rhythmic guitar strumming in ska, reggae, and punk. “A typical skank guitar rhythm: {\time3/4\tempo4=180\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"electric guitar (muted)"\repeat unfold2{r8a4}\repeat unfold2{r8g4”
  7. verb To dance the skank.
  8. verb To play guitar with a skank rhythm.
  9. verb (transitive or intransitive, Jamaica) To be dishonest or unreliable, to defraud or deceive, to steal.
  10. noun The act of cheating a person. “That's not a good deal; it's a skank.”
  11. verb (transitive) To cheat or betray, especially a friend. “He short-changed a partner, leaving him feeling skanked.”
  12. verb (transitive) To steal, or otherwise acquire underhandedly.

Synonyms

promiscuous woman filth crud

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps from skag (“unattractive woman”), but the origins of skag are unknown. Compare scold (“troublesome woman”), skeevy (“disgusting”). Attested from the 1960s.

Originally Jamaican, attested from the twentieth century, but earliest source is uncertain. The verb sense be dishonest is evidently older. Perhaps originally onomatopoeic. The dance senses may come from a resemblance to motorcyclists weaving between larger vehicles. Compare skanker.

Slang word used in Northern England. Unknown. Perhaps from etymology 2, above; attested in West Indian and UK black slang from the twentieth century.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “skank”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details