askew

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The Word of the Day for June 7 is: 

askew   \uh-SKYOO\   adjective
      : out of line : awry

Example sentence: 
      Jeff didn't realize that the bookshelf he had hung on the wall was 
slightly askew until he placed a pen on it and it rolled off the edge.

Did you know?
      It's believed that "askew" was formed simply by attaching the prefix "a-" 
-- meaning, among other things, "in (such) a state or condition" -- to "skew." 
The word "skew," which derives via Middle English from Anglo-French "eschiver," 
meaning "to escape or avoid," can be a verb, adjective, or noun. But at the 
time of the first appearance of "askew" in English, in the middle of the 16th 
century, "skew" had only been established as a verb meaning "to take an oblique 
course or direction." At least one etymologist has suggested that "askew" might 
have been influenced by an Old Norse phrase, and that the same phrase might 
have also given us "askance." In the past, "askew" was used synonymously with 
"askance," as in, "She looked at me askew after my ill-timed joke."




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