Antedating of "Skidoo"?

[Fred Shapiro]

Here is an antedating of sorts:  The OED's earliest citation for "skidoo"
is dated 1905.  But a search of ProQuest Historical Newspapers pull up an
article in the N.Y. Times, 23 June 1901, p. 8, about the New Rochelle
Yacht Club regatta.  In a list of boats in that regatta one of them is
named "Skidoo."  I cannot tell for sure whether this is the same word as
the verb meaning "to go away hurriedly," but in all likelihood it is the
same word.

Fred Shapiro


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------