# scag
## English
### Alternative forms

* skag

### Etymology

Unknown. Compare scat (“heroin; whiskey”), slag (“waste; a prostitute”), skank (“a disreputable woman”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skæɡ/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -æɡ

### Noun

scag (countable and uncountable, plural scags)
* (slang, uncountable) Heroin.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:heroin
** 1973, “Sport”, in Hustler's Convention, performed by Lightnin' Rod:And I was snorting scag while other kids played tag
** 1975, David Allan Coe (lyrics and music), “Cocaine Carolina”, performed by Johnny Cash:So goodbye Cocaine Carolina, you and I are through / I'm going back to Sandy Scag, she knows just what to do
** 1996, Mark Ravenhill, Shopping and Fucking, Scene One:Mark: No. I'm off the scag. Ten days without the scag. And I'm going away.
** 2013 November 12, Gabe Liedman, “Old School” (1:48 from the start), in Brooklyn Nine-Nine‎, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Young Jake (Miles Platt):“"The detectives wiped the mobsters' blood off their boots and found the scag." Scag is heroin. And the book says it's so good, you can never stop doing it!” “See me after class, Jacob.”
* (slang, countable, derogatory, originally African-American Vernacular) A woman of loose morals.
* (slang, countable, dated, US) A cigarette.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cigarette
** 1915, “The Doomsday Butt”, in The Cornhusker, page 458:“Then have a skag,” said I. / “’Twill make it seem like happier times, / You liked this brand, I understand.”
** 1996, Paul Bunker, Keith Barlow, Bunker's War: The World War II Diary of Paul D. Bunker, page 134:Awoke when our florescent lights came on and went outside to smoke a few scags before breakfast.

#### Descendants

* Vietnamese: xì ke

### Verb

scag (third-person singular simple present scags, present participle scagging, simple past and past participle scagged)
* (computing) To destroy the data on a disk, either by corrupting the file system or by causing media damage.
    That last power hit scagged the system disk.

### References

* ↑ “scag, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ “scag”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

### Anagrams

* CAGs, CGAs, cags

## Irish
### Etymology

From Old Norse [Term?].

### Verb

scag (present analytic scagann, future analytic scagfaidh, verbal noun scagadh, past participle scagtha)
* to strain, filter
* to drain off
* to refine
* to sift
* to derive, spring (from source)

#### Conjugation

| | | singular | singular | singular | plural | plural | plural | relative | autonomous |
| | | first | second | third | first | second | third | relative | autonomous |
| indicative | present | scagaim | scagann tú; scagair$^†$ | scagann sé, sí | scagaimid | scagann sibh | scagann siad; scagaid$^†$ | a scagann; a scagas | scagtar |
| indicative | past | scag mé; scagas | scag tú; scagais | scag sé, sí | scagamar; scag muid | scag sibh; scagabhair | scag siad; scagadar | a scag / ar scag* | scagadh |
| indicative | past habitual | scagainn | scagtá | scagadh sé, sí | scagaimis; scagadh muid | scagadh sibh | scagaidís; scagadh siad | a scagadh / a scagadh* | scagtaí |
| future | future | scagfaidh mé; scagfad | scagfaidh tú; scagfair$^†$ | scagfaidh sé, sí | scagfaimid; scagfaidh muid | scagfaidh sibh | scagfaidh siad; scagfaid$^†$ | a scagfaidh; a scagfas | scagfar |
| conditional | conditional | scagfainn | scagfá | scagfadh sé, sí | scagfaimis; scagfadh muid | scagfadh sibh | scagfaidís; scagfadh siad | a scagfadh / a scagfadh* | scagfaí |
| subjunctive | present | go scaga mé; go scagad$^†$ | go scaga tú; go scagair$^†$ | go scaga sé, sí | go scagaimid; go scaga muid | go scaga sibh | go scaga siad; go scagaid$^†$ | — | go scagtar |
| subjunctive | past | dá scagainn | dá scagtá | dá scagadh sé, sí | dá scagaimis; dá scagadh muid | dá scagadh sibh | dá scagaidís; dá scagadh siad | — | dá scagtaí |
| imperative | imperative | scagaim | scag | scagadh sé, sí | scagaimis | scagaigí; scagaidh$^†$ | scagaidís | — | scagtar |
| verbal noun | verbal noun | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh | scagadh |
| past participle | past participle | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha | scagtha |
* indirect relative † archaic or dialect form

#### Derived terms

* scagach
* scagacht
* scagadh
* scagaire
* scagáit
* scagbhéalach
* scagbheathóir
* scagdhealaigh
* scagfhiaclach
* scaglann
* scagpháipéar
* scagtha

### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “scacaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “scag”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “scag”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “scag”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025