Word Confusion: Slew versus Slough

Posted April 14, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
11 July 2023

I’ve been running into a slew of slews and find myself falling into a slough. Mostly because I’ve learned that slough has some alternative spellings . . . dang it. I wanted to be all self-righteous about writers improperly using slough for slew, and I can’t. I hate that.

I can take heart, though, that slough is the more common choice for swamps and mucky depressions. I know I feel better about sloughing that dead skin off my feet instead of slewing it . . . slew the skin off my face just doesn’t feel right.

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Exploring Later . . .

Other water-related posts include “Bay vs Bight vs Cove“, “Bayou vs Bog vs Marsh vs Swamp“, “Cay vs Key vs Quay“, “Creak versus Creek“, “Dock vs Pier vs Wharf“, “Harbor vs Marina vs Port vs Quay“, “Lakes: Kettle, Loch, Mere, and Oxbow“, “Peer versus Pier“, “River vs Stream vs Tributary“, and “Straight versus Strait“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Slew versus Slough” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Slew Slough

Leaning Motorbike is in the public domain, via Pxfuel.

A motorcyclist slews around a curve in the track.


Bayou, 2004, by Jan Kronsell is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s a slough, the Kenta Canal, at Barataria Preserve, Louisiana.

Part of Grammar:
Morpheme: slay


Noun 1 and 2
Verb 1, intransitive & transitive 3

Plural for the noun: slews
Gerund: slaying

Third person present verb: slews
Past tense: slew
Past participle: slain
Present participle: slaying

Alternative spelling: slue

Noun 1 and 2
Verb 2, intransitive & transitive

Plural for the noun: sloughs
Gerund: sloughing

Third person present verb: sloughs
Past tense or past participle: sloughed
Present participle: sloughing

Alternative spellings: slew, slue, sluff

Noun:
A violent or uncontrollable sliding movement 1

[Informal; a slew of] A large number or quantity of something 2

Verb, intransitive:
Turn or slide violently or uncontrollably in a particular direction 1

  • [Of an electronic device] . . . undergo slewing

Verb, transitive:
Turn or slide violently or uncontrollably in a particular direction 1

Kill (a person or animal) in a violent way 3

  • [Chiefly North American; Journalism] Murder (someone)
  • [Informal] Greatly impress or amuse (someone)
Noun:
A place of deep mud or mire 1

  • A swamp
  • A creek in a marsh or tide flat
  • Backwater
  • An inlet on a river

A situation characterized by lack of progress or activity

Something that may be shed or cast off 2

A mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer

A state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection

Verb, intransitive:
[Usually slough something off] Shed or remove (a layer of dead skin) 2

  • [Slough off; of dead skin] Drop off
  • Be shed
  • To separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
  • [slough away/down; of soil or rock] Collapse or slide into a hole or depression
  • Cast off one’s skin

Crumble slowly and fall away

To plod through or as if through mud

Verb, transitive:
[Usually slough something off] Shed or remove (a layer of dead skin) 2

  • To cast off

Engulf in a slough

To get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous (usually used with off)

  • Dispose of a losing card in bridge by discarding
Examples:
Noun:
I was assaulted by the thump and slew of the van.

He asked me a slew of questions.

He had a slew of unpaid bills.

Verb, intransitive:
The Chevy slewed from side to side in the snow.

“The telescope slewed to the coordinates as soon as it received the alert and within seven minutes of the start of the burst, it began observations” (Slewed).

“The violet eyes slewed from door to window as if desperate for escape” (James).

Verb, transitive:
He managed to slew the aircraft around before it settled on the runway.

St. George slew the dragon.

A man was slain with a shotgun.

You slay me, you really do.

Noun:
Those from Beaver Creek were taken in a slough which has no connection with the main stream during low water.

The economic slough of the interwar years have been difficult on many people.

The drugs can cause blistering and slough.

Verb, intransitive:
He had to slough on that trick.

One hand can ruff while the other hand sloughs a loser.

“Smooth fallen branches from which all bark has sloughed.” – David M. Carroll

Verb, transitive:
A snake sloughs off its old skin.

Exfoliate once a week to slough off any dry skin.

He is concerned to slough off the country’s bad environmental image.

Derivatives:
Adjective: slayable, unslayable
Noun: slayer, sley,
Adjective: sloughy
Phrasal Verb
slough off
History of the Word:
  1. Mid-18th century and originally in nautical use, althought it is of unknown origin.
  2. Mid-19th century from the Irish sluagh.
  3. Old English slēan meaning strike, kill is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch slaan and German schlagen.
The first known use was before the 12th century.

  1. Old English slōh, slō(g), of unknown origin.
  2. Middle English (as a noun denoting a skin, especially the outer skin shed by a snake) and perhaps related to Low German slu(we) meaning husk, peel.

    The verb dates from the early 18th century.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Slew versus Slough

Apple Dictionary.com

“Is it Slough or Slew?” Stack Exchange. Mar 2014. Web. n.d. <http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10317/is-it-slough-or-slew>.

James, P.D. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Scribner: 1972 and 2015. <https://amzn.to/3Q8nCB9>.

Merriam-Webster: slew, slough

“Slewed.” Myefe.com. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://myefe.com/transcription-pronunciation/slewed>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Slough: Redwood City is Stickpen’s own work which he has placed in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. I took some drastic Photoshop liberties with it, slewing it right ’round on itself.

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