The origin of the English word "skiffle" is unknown. However, in the dialect of the west of England "to make a skiffle" meaning to make a mess of any business is attested from 1873. In early 20th century America the term "skiffle" was one of many slang phrases for a rent party, a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house. It was first recorded in Chicago in the 1920s and may have been brought there as part of the African-American migration to northern industrial cities.