# What does slough (pronounced "slew") mean to you? Quick!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970 "2010-08-03T03:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/1 "2010-08-03T03:25:49Z")
Please answer before reading others’ responses. And include, if you will, from where in the world you learned what it is. No dictionaries allowed! This word seems to have different meanings in different places. My definition and place: Slough: A side channel to a river, under the influence of tide waters. Place: southern Oregon coast, USA. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/2 "2010-08-03T03:26:46Z")
I thought it was a city in England. I live in Arizona, USA and I think I learned the word from a list of cities which a former company I worked for had an office. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/3 "2010-08-03T03:30:29Z")
Pronounced “slew”? I have no idea. I would pronounce it “sluff” and use it to mean the shedding of an outer layer. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/4 "2010-08-03T03:32:48Z")
Same as the OP, raised in California-SF Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/5 "2010-08-03T03:33:56Z")
Doesn’t mean anything to me. Slough pronounced “sluff” means to shed. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/6 "2010-08-03T03:34:59Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I thought it was a city in England. I live in Arizona, USA and I think I learned the word from a list of cities which a former company I worked for had an office. My English friend pronounces that city to rhyme with “plough”. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/7 "2010-08-03T03:36:02Z")
A small pond, usually just a low spot in a field with standing water after spring melt. May or may not contain water year round. Western Canada ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/8 "2010-08-03T03:36:57Z")
Pronounced “sluff”, means to shed, like a snake’s skin. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/9 "2010-08-03T03:37:38Z")
I learned it from my Canadian\* grandfather as a body of water. Not entirely clear what kind: I think of it as still water, like a temporary pond or lake. Slough “sluff” is the snake thing, “slew” is the water. ETA: Almost exactly what **Gorsnak** said, and I didn’t even see his (her?) comment on preview. \*Western Canada (Sask – Alberta) ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/10 "2010-08-03T03:38:16Z")
Sort of ditto the OP. Tallahassee, FL We have many around here including Munson Slough, but none of them are “under the influence of tide waters”. Most are side waters off rivers (too far up for tide to be an issue) or lakes. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/11 "2010-08-03T03:38:17Z")
A creek. Sacramento, CA. It’s a common word around here in gold country. ETA: Looks like I was wrong about the definition, but I knew it was some kind of watery thing. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/12 "2010-08-03T03:38:33Z")
I had a vague idea it was a marshy area, but that’s from reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, um, many years ago. Never heard it outside that context. Midwest, US. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/13 "2010-08-03T03:39:25Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Please answer before reading others’ responses. And include, if you will, from where in the world you learned what it is. No dictionaries allowed! This word seems to have different meanings in different places. I’ve heard it to mean peel off and fall away, such as a snake sloughing its skin. I _think_ I’ve heard it to mean slacking off or being lazy. And lastly, I seem to remember it being used in Pilgrim’s Progress, via Little Women, as “the Slough of Despond”, which always made me think of a swampy area with mud so thick you can get stuck and sink in it. Other than the last, I don’t recall where else I’ve heard the word. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/14 "2010-08-03T03:39:28Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > A small pond, usually just a low spot in a field with standing water after spring melt. May or may not contain water year round. > > Western Canada What he said. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/15 "2010-08-03T03:41:10Z")
Swampy thing. If it rhymed with plough, I would’ve gone with the town. In fact, that’s how I thought it was always pronounced , I’ve only seen it written (not a native English speaker). ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/16 "2010-08-03T03:41:38Z")
I thought it meant a valley. I seem to recall a slough of despair or something in Pilgrim’s Progress. I’ve heard of the British city also. A company I worked for in the eighties had a development center there. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/17 "2010-08-03T03:44:14Z")
Since this is more of a poll than a factual question, it’s better suited for IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/18 "2010-08-03T03:45:50Z")
Pronounced “slew.” Low lying stagnant ponds of accumulated drainage from groundwater or other bodies of water. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/19 "2010-08-03T03:48:54Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Please answer before reading others’ responses. And include, if you will, from where in the world you learned what it is. No dictionaries allowed! This word seems to have different meanings in different places. > > My definition and place: > > Slough: A side channel to a river, under the influence of tide waters. Place: southern Oregon coast, USA. Shedding of skin, like a snake. Pronounced “sloff.” Also slang for being lazy, as in “sloughed off.” Grew up in West Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/20 "2010-08-03T03:50:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Pronounced “slew.” Low lying stagnant ponds of accumulated drainage from groundwater or other bodies of water. From where did you learn that? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970.md?page=2)