Skinamarink

Posted by Sinead on June 27, 2003

In Reply to: Skinamarink posted by masakim on May 23, 2003

: : : : : Does anyone know the origin of this word/group of nonsense syllables? I came up empty-handed on a web search. I vaguely associate it with jive-talk phrases like "23 skidoo", but there may not be any connection.

: : : : It's a child's song. I know we've discussed this. I'll try to find it in the archives.

: : : No luck. Maybe someone else will remember what we came up with.

: : : Skidamarink

: : : Skidamarink - adink - a dink
: : : Skidamarink - a doo!
: : : I love you! (twice)

: : : I love you in the morning
: : : and in the afternoon
: : : I love you in the evening
: : : and underneath the moon!

: : : Oh, skidamarink - adink - a dink,
: : : Skidamarink - a doo!
: : : I LOVE YOU!!!

: : : Also saw it spelled "Skinnamarink."

: : In Scotland, isn't Skinny Malinky a crane fly or Daddy-long-legs? Also the character in Scottish children's rhymes;
: : Skinny Malinky lang legs, umbrella feet,
: : Went tae the pictures an' couldnae find a seat. He got the bus hame an' he widnae pey his fare, So the rotten auld conductor kicked him doon the stair.

: : For those watching in black and white, that would be;
: : Skinny Malinky long legs, umbrella feet,
: : Went to the pictures and couldn't find a seat. He got the bus home and he wouldn't pay his fare,
: : So the rotten old conductor kicked him down the stair.

: SKINNIES

: Skinny-malinky long legs
: Big banana feet,
: Went to the pictures
: And fell through the seat.
: Boy, 12, Jelensburgh. [Footnote: A Scottish rhyme only heard north of the Border; but the term 'skinny-malink' travelled south long ago, and well established in England.]

: Thin people inspire almost as many names and jokes as fat people, but the laughter is less mortifying; the names cannot insinuate self-indulgence, they are merely descriptive, as, bag o' bones, bean pole, Bony Moroney (Glasgow), broomstick, daddy-longlegs, drain pipe ('Thin enough to go up a drain pipe'), fuse-wire, hair-bones, hairpin, lamp-post, walking lamp-post, Lanky Liz, Lanky Panky, 'Long and lanky, skinny and cranky', Swanky Lanky Liz (a character in _Beano_), L.S.D. (Long Skinny Davy), matchstick (sometimes abbreviated to 'matchy'), needles, needle-legs, pencil slim, pipe cleaner, rake (very common -- and medieval) or raky, razor blade, rib skin, scarecrow, scraggy, skin and bones, skinny, skinny-flint or skinflint (curiously common in this sense),skinny guts, Skinny Liz, skinny-malink, spaggy oe sparrow (one with long thin legs), Spindle Dick, spindle legs, spindleshanks, taper, Thinima (opposite to Fatima), thin ribs, and, of course, such names as Toby. 'Look at him sideway, teacher'll think he's absent.' 'He's as fat as a matchstick with the wood shaved off.'

: From _The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren_ by Iona & Peter Opie

Another variation, the song I knew growing up:

Skinny malink melodian legs, umbrella feet,
Went to the pictures and couldn't get a seat,
When the picture started, skinny malink farted,
Skinny malink melodian legs, umbrella feet.

Skinny M :) Dublin, Ireland.