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Got any Skeet?

By Kerry Sharpe

If you were asked this question anywhere else, you might think it was the latest slang for some dubious drug. I suppose Skeet is a kind of drug: it’s pleasurable, addictive and freely available throughout the Isle of Man.

The word “Skeet” comes from Old Icelandic and it’s used here to refer to gossip. The English word “gossip”, though, is a grossly inadequate translation.

“Gossip” can refer to any old piece of hearsay - not always particularly juicy - which, once exchanged by two people, may slowly filter down through a community. Skeet, on the other hand, travels at the speed of light, sometimes arriving back to the originator before they’ve even carried out what they’re supposed to have done.

But it’s the sophisticated delivery of Skeet that sets it apart from mere gossip.

Take this scenario: one person arrives from shopping in Douglas. The first question their partner asks is not, “Was it busy?” or “What did you buy?” but “Did you see anyone we know?”

"It’s the sophisticated delivery of Skeet that sets it apart from mere gossip"
Kerry Sharpe

Even though the partner is desperate for a piece of Skeet (I told you it’s like a drug), they don’t betray this fact. Instead, they ask casually, as though not bothered. “Not really,” comes the disappointing reply.

Then, after a pause - which is just long enough - “but I did see Juan Kelly.”

“Oh, yes?” says the partner, still controlled, even though, inside, the pages of their mental phone directory are already madly whirring, “Which one?”

The trick, at this stage, is for the holder of the Skeet never to divulge too much information too soon. An elaborate question/answer session must first take place where the partner makes a number of exhaustive guesses.

"And then he said... that she said..."

Finally, the Skeet holder will supply the necessary information, usually ending with, “You know! His father used to deliver the milk."

Once the identity is established, the partner’s Skeet database activates. Faster and more efficient than any Microsoft hard drive, the Skeet database contains information ranging from what time Juan Kelly opens his curtains to the uncanny-yet-never-spoken-of likeness between Juan Kelly and the village butcher.

The partner can now ask “So where had he been / where was he going / has he still got that stupid haircut and (most importantly) who was he with?”

If this person isn’t immediately known, the question/answer session can be repeated and even if recognition is instant, the implications of just who Juan Kelly was seen with, are infinite.

In Laxey, where I live, most houses face each other across the narrow valley. Many people have binoculars on their front window sills - but I bet they’re rarely used for bird watching.

last updated: 04/04/2008 at 15:17
created: 21/09/2006

Have Your Say

Is Kerry right? Are Manx people gossip addicts through and through? Or is this simply a myth?

Jumisko
I believe my Icelandic relatives would say that "skeet" means manure, though in the vulgar way - and is considered very low discourse.My Gran used to say she would rather hear us use the word sh*t than skeet!

Alex Edwards
When I lived in the Isle of Mann; In the sixties. A skeet was some one who peeped out from the back of the curtains. ( English Nosey Parker) I see the word has evolved a bit since then. The last paragrgh sums it up for me ."In Laxey, where I live, most houses face each other across the narrow valley. Many people have binoculars on their front window sills - but I bet they’re rarely used for bird watching"Regards A Edwards

Cooil
My dad has skeet off to a fine art, he is the #1 expert with the question/answer session drawing it out for as long as possible with the whole family guessing what the answer is and taking great glee in revealing the answer when all our attempts have failed and on the rare occassion we get it right he is gutted - you know who you are dad!x

Alexia
Skeet is an amazing thing - it's definitely more of an art in the Isle of Man!

MANXIE
Yes is skeet is alive and well , giving us manx something to do as we dont work and have nothing better to do than moan about other people or just make skeet up it's great fun ruining peoples lives with idle lies and gossip.

marjorie moore
yes skeet? its often character assasination. and so easy and often done on the isle of man.

Peter Harris
I was born in Peel some 70 years ago, and i thought that skeet was a Peel word

Christine
ABSOLUTLEY TRUE !! Whenever I visited my manx grandmother in Ramsey she used to peep from behind her net curtains at the neighbours and say 'just having a skeet'. I now live in Australia and do the same but noone has any idea what I am talking about!!

Jim Dolan
To right yessir I lived in Laxey too the Lonan end I remember the binoculars tooo!

anti prejudice
surely it is impossible to categorise ALL Manx ppl as gossip addicts....and are those on the mainland immune from gossip? thought not...

Tim
long live manx skeet!

Jean
Yes, my mum Hilda gets her "skeet" sent all the way from family in England to Canada via the post.

Andy
YUP! 'Ave ya got ne Skeet?' is the first question when i walk in from work. to be Manx you have to be nosey!

Hollie
Yes the Manx are the world professionals at 'Skeet'!!!Even if they do get half of it wrong, they still like to know other peoples skeet and spread the word. Obviuosly more interested in other peoples lives than their own!!

maggsy
And what better method to speed up the passing on of real good skeet than to begin with the words: "keep this under your hat, but...." Never fails!

wormy
ha ha true. I lived in laxey and we had a pair of binoculars on our window sill

Lucy
I agree 100%, we are all addicted to skeet on the Isle of Man, and we all know it! LONG LIVE SKEET ON THE ISLE OF MAN!

Barry
This is known as the 'law off skeet'. With local papers only produced on Mondays and Thursdays, we rely on skeet to keep us up to date with whats going on. Then we know what the hot news is before the papers are out, but I still will buy the papers for the sports skeet !!

Quirkie
I think skeet is in danger of getting bad press as just 'gossip'. No, it's much more than that. It's the collective noun for all the news and information that you may have missed, especially if you've been off-Island for a while (which sadly I generally am). It's about making sure you're armed with enough facts to join in with conversations about what's really happening on our beautiful Isle - and if there are some juicy bits in there as well, that's a bonus!

sue muir
I do not believe the manx are gossipers

Zoë
So uniquely manx! They just don't do skeet on the mainland like they do at home!

Chloe
Its completley true! I can't name the amount of times i have heard, "You see that guy/woman over there?Well so and so told me, that they knew someone,who told them that they......." etc etc. I usually hear people saying, "Just going/coming for a skeet..."

zoe
everyone loves gossip not just the manx. And 'having a skeet' could be read as 'having a look' :)

Tory
Doesn't everyone like to skeet no matter where they are in the world? Granted they don't have cool phrases like us Manxies and stick to common old gossip but we can't blame them for being boring!

Kat
ah we all love a good bit of Skeet. sometimes though i wish i was doing half what they say i was!

Russell Gilmour
YES. There is no better indication of being Manx than asking the question "got any skeet" and then summing it up by saying ", at ya?"

Matt Callister
You can't beat a good bit of skeet! It's what makes the world (or at least the Island) go round. Like weezy said, it keeps that community feel to the place.

Mimi
Having bought some new clothes/boots/shoes a friend might ask "Give us a skeet then..." and we caertainly all do the curtain twitcher kind of skeet.Anything new in the gossip line is skeet...and the more one can add about who they're related to the better.

Sassy
I am what's commonly known as a "Come Over", in the UK we would say things like ill have a 'Skeet' at that, meaning ill have a look. My fiancee is Manx born and reared up to his Uni years, I asked him what 'Skeet' was, he immediately stated "Gossip". He also said that those who don't recognise it as such, are the gossips!

kirree
I'm Manx and grew up on the Island. Kerry is almost right in her interpretation of the word 'Skeet'. To be a skeet means to be nosey - the spying from behind net curtains kind of thing. Your companion might say 'Are you skeetin'?' as you break off your conversation to peer round the edge of your window to surreptitiously watch your neighbour go into his house with an unfamiliar female, for example. The resultant information might well be the subject of gossip - all the better if it is! - but skeeting is not gossiping.

weezy
Long live Skeet! Enjoyable as it is, it also has a hidden benefit - keeping the sense of community on the Island. And funnily enough, men are better at it than women I have found!

Charlie, Ayre
100% true. Skeet is alive & well in the Island!

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