Mr. Chips Takes Flight

Or, to use a much more colorful term, "skedaddled".  My grandpa used to use this word, and it is such a fun way to say, "leave in a hurry". An Americanism first used between 1860–65. There's debate over its origin, but most sources connect it to Scots and Northern English dialects meaning “to spill, scatter.” The term was popularized during the American Civil War, originally spelled as skaddadle, military slang meaning “run away, flee hastily.”  Just one more in my occasional series entitled, "Where did that word come from?"  Our short heatwave will break today with rain and thunderstorms this afternoon.