Entry · catalog no. 2006
skins
/ skɪnz /SKINZ
noun · Jazz circuit / nationwide · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
Drums; the drum kit.
“Papa Jo was back there working the skins all night.”
Origin & Attribution
Jazz musicians' shop-talk, listed in Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary (1938) as "drums." Named for the animal skins traditionally stretched over the drumheads; still heard among drummers long after mylar replaced hide.
1930s
Musicians' word for drums
1938
Listed in Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary
now
Still used on the bandstand
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Jazz circuit / nationwide · 1930s
Spoken by
Black jazz musicians
$SKINSThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady88 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
58/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1938
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
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See also