skilly
9.9
A thin porridge of oats and water often served in prisons or workhouses
- noun
- /ˈskɪli/
- Archaic
:
sopa aguada
- In Victorian workhouses, skilly was a common part of breakfast.
Examples
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During the famine, many poor families survived on little more than skilly each day.
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♪ Skilly beat bop we rock
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The prisoners complained about being given only skilly for their meals.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Skilly comes from a humble word in northern England or Scotland for a thin porridge, and it may be linked to an old Norse word skyr meaning 'a simple dairy food'. So skilly is easy to remember as a thin, watery porridge or soup often given to poor people or in prisons.
