Describing a distribution where data points are not symmetrically distributed around the center, with a longer tail extending in one direction. Can be positively skewed (tail to the right) or negatively skewed (tail to the left).
From Old Norse 'skjalgr' meaning 'oblique, wry.' Originally described physical objects that were twisted or turned from their proper position. Statistical usage emerged in the early 1900s to describe data distributions that were 'twisted' away from perfect symmetry.
A skewed distribution is like a lopsided smile - most of the data clusters on one side with a long tail stretching toward the other! Income data is famously right-skewed because while most people earn modest amounts, a few billionaires create that long tail stretching toward higher values.
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