Skive
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Skive is informal slang in Britain for slack, idle, shirk, skulk, and describes a person who avoids responsibility and procrastinates. A skive in a school setting is a truant or someone who is playing hookey (American slang). In a military setting, to skive is not as severe as deserting, but not attending totally to one's task. In politics, London mayor Ken Livingstone griped about the US ambassador who had failed to pay a traffic congestion charge (citing diplomatic immunity), and made a remark during a televised interview using the word "skive":
| ‘ | It would actually be quite nice if the American ambassador in Britain could pay the charge that everybody else is paying and not actually try and skive out of it like some chiselling little crook.[1] | ’ |
One anonymous reader to a BBC News story about persons taking an "extra sick day" made this comment disparaging public sector workers:
| ‘ | Strange how public sector have a proven record of nearly 4x sick leave compared to the private sector; the latter too worried of losing their jobs. Public sector workers regard it their "right" to skive off to make up for being poorer paid. As a temp who only gets paid for work I've done, I've been amazed when I've had to cover public sector workers off sick on full pay sometimes for over a year! If it was the private sector they would have been fired.[2] | ’ |
Skive also means to cut into thin layers.
References
- ↑ Mayor reported for 'crook' remark, BBC News, 2006-03-28. Retrieved on 2010-03-03. “London mayor Ken Livingstone has been reported to a standards watchdog after likening the US ambassador in London to a "chiselling little crook". Mr Livingstone made the comments during an interview about US diplomats failing to pay the £8-a-day congestion charge.”
- ↑ Will you be taking an extra sick day?, BBC News, 2004-01-08. Retrieved on 2010-03-03. “More than one in 10 workers is planning a "sickie" this month, even though they are not ill.”