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Give me your insight/opinion - What translates into "skank" in your mind?

Qyron

Qyron

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I'm presently doing groundwork for a story and this came to mind.

While profiling one of my characters I realized I wanted to add a little more detail to her. She's a pretty dark hearted woman (vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful) but being a socialite she keeps a very carefully planned and well maintained facade of being a woman of very high standards.

Because I don't intend to let her reveal her true nature early into the story, just to make things more interesting to me and to the future readers I decided I wanted to invest in small details, small things that a more attentive person can pick up and start wondering.

One of these details I considered would be a penchant for a specific drink (a straight drink, not a cocktail) but as I was working on the concept I started thinking that more than a drink in particular, lack of finesse is also conveyed through the way one actually drinks.

Give me your opinion on this.

I'm aiming at subtlety: very small, minute details that can go unnoticed, hopefully until the end of the story.
 
Qyron said:
Give me your opinion on this.

I'm aiming at subtlety: very small, minute details that can go unnoticed, hopefully until the end of the story.
Click to expand...

Not to insult anyone's favorite drink, but I'll nominate flavored vodka downed by the shot.
 
NotWise said:
Not to insult anyone's favorite drink, but I'll nominate flavored vodka downed by the shot.
Click to expand...

Seconded. Those non-skanks among us would just love a bit of Jameson, please. :D

How about her manner, as well? It's All. About. Her. LOUDLY. Sexualizing even the most glaringly asexual situations, so that even the bawdiest of us just cringe.
 
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Qyron said:
I'm presently doing groundwork for a story and this came to mind.

While profiling one of my characters I realized I wanted to add a little more detail to her. She's a pretty dark hearted woman (vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful) but being a socialite she keeps a very carefully planned and well maintained facade of being a woman of very high standards.
Click to expand...
So if she is all of these things, then by the way I define skank, she's not a skank. A skank in my mind's eye is as dumb as a plank of wood, with no cleverness or class. The woman you profile requires a clever mind to do those things and be consistent, I'd have thought. She might well be amoral, but I can't see her being stupid.

It depends how you define "skank," I guess.

But in terms of the tells, I'd develop a few things that she does, mannerisms, things she says, that then get repeated, to provide little signs for the reader; "Ah yes, that's how I imagine her."
 
@SexyCoastalWitch
Quoting an 1980's line:

"[...] you're just devoted
to every flavour I've got.

But if you want to get loaded
why don't you just order
a shot?"

Not that I advocate for power drinking but a woman capable of facing a shot of whisky and maintain her wits earns my respect and interest.

@NotWise
I can convert the standard shot to a long drink served on a whisky tumbler, over a couple of ice cubes and a lime peel. Sip it when in company, shoot it when nobody is around. Refill. Power on. Same poison, different delivery method.
 
Handley_Page said:
My Ex used to drink Brandy & Dry ginger.
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My first fiancée used to drink substantial quantities of Sloe Gin, or Vodka and Lemon. If she was buying? She'd drink Scrumpy - very rough cider - by the gallon. Her capacity for alcohol was considerable but she always remained coherent and aware.

My immediately previous girlfriend had no tolerance for alcohol at all. We went to a local public house before we intended to see a movie. She asked me for a half pint of sweet commercial cider, drank half of it, and keeled over. I had to carry her back to her parents' house in a fireman's lift. Her father accepted my explanation. We had been out for twenty minutes.

I don't think either was a skank.
 
OP's character is not a skank.

Skank: "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash."

I'm not sure of a single Anglish term for a vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful socialite. [Political names excluded.] High-society witch, maybe. What signals her character? Everything she says is false or misleading.
 
Qyron said:
I can convert the standard shot to a long drink served on a whisky tumbler, over a couple of ice cubes and a lime peel. Sip it when in company, shoot it when nobody is around. Refill. Power on. Same poison, different delivery method.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. To quote Ann Taintor (one of my favorite commercial artists) "People who need people haven't discovered lemon-flavored vodka."
 
Hypoxia said:
OP's character is not a skank.

Skank: "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash."

I'm not sure of a single Anglish term for a vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful socialite. [Political names excluded.] High-society witch, maybe. What signals her character? Everything she says is false or misleading.
Click to expand...

I don't know. It could be OP's character is an "up-jumped" skank. Someone raised to skankiness who realized that she'd have better prospects as a socialite. Someone who can imitate high-class when she tries, but who reverts to her true nature when she let's her guard down. It may have been her own ambition and scheming that improved her station, or it she may have had a hand up. I could see possibilities with such a character.

As far as skanky traits go, I'm reminded of the platitude "Great Minds Discuss Ideas; Average Minds Discuss Events; Small Minds Discuss People". She could be a gossip or a fan of low-brow reality TV. Just a thought.
 
Hypoxia said:
OP's character is not a skank.
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I depended on the description rather than the thread title for my response. Based on the description, I think the woman might be a two-faced narcissist. She doesn't need people. She needs lemon vodka.
 
Hypoxia said:
OP's character is not a skank.

"Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash."
Click to expand...

Exactly. Trailer Trash.



I'm not sure of a single Anglish term for a vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful socialite. [Political names excluded.] High-society witch, maybe. What signals her character? Everything she says is false or misleading.
Click to expand...

Alexis:

alexis_carrington_dynasty.jpg
 
I came of age hearing the word skank used as a particularly derogatory term for a woman who is typically young, promiscuous, and broken.

By that definition, your character doesn't sound skanky to me. She sounds cruel, self-centered, and irritating. It doesn't mean she wouldn't be an interesting character (far from it), but I would probably try to pick out a spot a few barstools away from her to drink in peace.
 
I'm with Hypoxia on this one. A skank is low class, white trashy. Too much makeup. Hair overdone. Cropped shirt showing belly button in front and tramp stamp in back. Shorts riding high and showing underbutt.

Bud light or a Captain and Coke. I thought of that myself but I looked it up and another web page agreed with me.

Or maybe the Red Headed Slut: 1 oz Jagermeister, 1 oz peach schnapps, 2 ozs cranberry juice
 
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Skanks drink beer. Warm. Out of a can, with the rest of the 6 pack still attached by the plastic rings.
 
Perhaps the high-society witch (raised to money) consorts with skanky young men because such human trash are so frenzied. Her limo cruises the town outskirts to the peckerhead poolhall. Some meth-head skank-boys are twitching outside. Eyes peering through her domino mask (for anonymity), she waves her chosen skank(s) inside, to the vinyl-lined sybaritic lounge that is the passenger compartment. The limo is the latest autonomous-electric model, bought by her hapless hubby, so no chauffeur will see and hear. But the surveillance cam does.
 
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Hypoxia said:
OP's character is not a skank.

Skank: "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash."

I'm not sure of a single Anglish term for a vain, mean, lying, manipulative, scheming and unfaithful socialite. [Political names excluded.] High-society witch, maybe. What signals her character? Everything she says is false or misleading.
Click to expand...

This description best fits and is visibly evident in the movie “The Crow”.
 
I once looked up this term when I saw it used on a website of a woman who made custom clothing. She apologized for the skanky pic of some pants. I think they were ordinary looking sweat pants that she had made for someone but they didn't buy. I think she meant that it was a bad pic which is kind of was.

I had wrongly thought that skanky meant a woman who wore cheap, ill fitting and perhaps trashy looking clothing and was also a slut. Seems I am not too far off of that mark but dirty and filthy are also in there.
 
I see the main character more as a calculating sociopath who could have some skank-like qualities since sociopaths can typically be shamelessly promiscuous. You could add in some clues where she misses simple social cues. As a very basic example, when a stranger says good morning to you, you naturally feel obligated to complete the social ritual and reply back. Sociopaths lack the impulse that compels most of us to reply. It's the same thing with guilt as well. If this fits the description of your narcissistic 'skank', have her actions, or lack of action, bring about minor conflicts with the people around her, and show her to be somewhat clueless as to why they are upset. However if I missed the mark, chalk this little rant up to too much scotch and too little sleep.
 
Hypoxia said:
OP's character is not a skank.

Skank: "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash."


So, a skank is basically a meth addicted hooker.
Click to expand...
 
electricblue66 said:
So if she is all of these things, then by the way I define skank, she's not a skank. A skank in my mind's eye is as dumb as a plank of wood, with no cleverness or class. The woman you profile requires a clever mind to do those things and be consistent, I'd have thought. She might well be amoral, but I can't see her being stupid.

It depends how you define "skank," I guess.

But in terms of the tells, I'd develop a few things that she does, mannerisms, things she says, that then get repeated, to provide little signs for the reader; "Ah yes, that's how I imagine her."
Click to expand...
I agree. Vince Gilligan created what I believe is the prototypical skank in "Breaking Bad."
Your character seems as amoral but far more crafty and focused. Perhaps something along the same lines, but rather than a drink she in certain moments would chew aspirin or suck on a lemon or lime or something equally harsh while lost in reverie of the moment as if the harsh flavor helps focus her mind on the slight or complication that demands a devious response from her.If she is a skank, jaFO's can of warm beer ripped from a six pack with the others still dangling from the plastic sounds about right.
 
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Abandon the word skank. It’s confusing the discussion.

Your character is devious and upper crust, but you want to show that she has a base, scrappy side. Alcohol is not a good way to do this. Drinking publicly has a showmanship to it. Drink choices are judged and mocked. Your lady character certainly knows this and will play to her crowd. You reminded me of a scene from Atlas Shrugged where a posh character’s dress slipped just enough to reveal that a safety pin is holding together ripped stitches in her collar. You need something like that. A little peek behind the curtain that shows her refinement is only surface level.
 
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