screwtape

English

Etymology 1

In reference to the C. S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters (1942), about an inexperienced demon sent to tempt a man to sin, from screw +‎ tape.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

screwtape (third-person singular simple present screwtapes, present participle screwtaping, simple past and past participle screwtaped)

1. To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish.
   • 2007, Palace Pier Blues, →ISBN, page 33:

     His collection of songlines and timelines snarled at him like a screwtaped confession.

   • 2013, Joseph Pearce, C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, →ISBN:

     Perhaps, beyond the lands of shadow, it will be exposed as merely a Screwtaped illusion.

   • 2015, A. Nonn, King Ludwig's Legacy and Other Poems, →ISBN:

     ...but they never got the chance From the rulers near-almighty down to the lower ranks of the CF hierarchy screw-taping rejection editors at the BBC and controlling clerky types at this or that ministry

Etymology 2

After DJ Screw, the Houston Southsider who produced the tapes.

Noun

screwtape (plural screwtapes)

1. One of a set of slow-tempo, lo-fi psychedelic mixtapes created by DJ Screw around 1992
   • 2016, Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis, The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, →ISBN:

     In addition, slab riders were not only playing the screwtapes in their decks, they were also rapping on them.

   • 2018, Lance Scott Walker, Houston Rap Tapes: An Oral History of Bayou City Hip-Hop, →ISBN, page 312:

     It's something that they have taken from the Screwtapes. The influence is just that great.

   • 2018, Fernando Orejuela, Stephanie Shonekan, Black Lives Matter and Music: Protest, Intervention, Reflection, →ISBN, page 59:

     Screwed Up Click member E.S.G. notes that "the reason why the niggas was talkin' about the SLABs and shit was because these was the niggas [SLAB riders] goin's to Screw's house makin' the screwtapes".