askew ə-ˈskyü adverb and adjective
adverb: turned or twisted to one side
adjective: turned or twisted toward one side
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The word askew has appeared in 48 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 16 in “Why a Perfect Spiral Football Pass Doesn’t Break the Laws of Physics” by Kenneth Chang:
When the ball leaves his hand, it points upward, in the direction of the throw. As it arcs through the air, spinning along the long axis without any visible wobble, the nose of the football dips, following the trajectory of the throw and pointing downward when it lands in the hands of the receiver.
To most fans, this looks perfectly natural, the ball slicing efficiently through the air with less drag. To a physicist like Timothy J. Gay, it was befuddling.
…. Dr. Gay said the findings could potentially even offer some tips to quarterbacks — for instance, that if a right-handed quarterback threw the pass with the ball slightly askew to the left initially, that might lower the total air resistance and allow it to travel a bit farther. “But I’m thinking those would be pretty marginal improvements,” he said.
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