# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/81 "2010-08-03T18:27:17Z")
We have the Columbia river and slew here, but to me the word always means to sluff. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/82 "2010-08-03T18:34:38Z")
It’s a swamp. From the Slough of Desond in _Pilgrim’s Progress_. Also from a line in _Treasure Island_. One of the pirates comes down with malaria. Dr. Livesey, who is treating them, diagnoses it, and they have this exchange. (The pirate cut a page out a Bible to make the “Black Spot”.) > [@](#): > > “That comed of sp’iling a Bible.” > > The doctor replied, “That comed, as you say, of being arrant asses, and of not knowing the dry land from a vile, pestilential slough”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/83 "2010-08-03T19:46:46Z")
Without reading the thread, I know it as an open, outdoor collecting/storage place for water, usually used for watering livestock. Also known as a “dug-out” when it’s on a farm (sloughs can be natural or man-made; dug-outs are only man-made). I’m from the Canadian prairies. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/84 "2010-08-03T20:02:56Z")
I see my prairie cred is intact! 😃 [Here’s a fairly typical picture of a dug-out.](http://smallfarmsk.com/storyboard/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/IMG_5377.jpg) [Here’s a nice slough.](http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/25575559.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ThirdOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@ThirdOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdOne)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/85 "2010-08-03T20:10:16Z")
Ok, I didn’t read further than the OP. I pronounce it “slew,” I’m from the west coast of US. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@ThirdOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdOne)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/86 "2010-08-03T20:19:58Z")
Missed the edit window I am thinking of a body of water, specifically, a small river. When meaning “to shed” as in snake skin, I pronounce it sluff. I am aware British may pronounce it “sluff” for the body of water, as well. I believe my dad did (he’s no longer on this earth, so I can’t ask him), and he was from Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/87 "2010-08-03T20:34:34Z")
I’ve never heard the watery definitions, just the uninspiring town and icky peeling. > [@si\_blakely](#): > > …as in the slough of despond in The Pilgrims Progress. Also the name of a city in the UK, with exactly the same connotations of depression and inescapability. I feel the 1937 poem from Sir John Betjeman coming on: Slough Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now, There isn’t grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death! Come, bombs and blow to smithereens Those air -conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath. Mess up the mess they call a town- A house for ninety-seven down And once a week a half a crown For twenty years. And get that man with double chin Who’ll always cheat and always win, Who washes his repulsive skin In women’s tears: And smash his desk of polished oak And smash his hands so used to stroke And stop his boring dirty joke And make him yell. But spare the bald young clerks who add The profits of the stinking cad; It’s not their fault that they are mad, They’ve tasted Hell. It’s not their fault they do not know The birdsong from the radio, It’s not their fault they often go To Maidenhead And talk of sport and makes of cars In various bogus-Tudor bars And daren’t look up and see the stars But belch instead. In labour-saving homes, with care Their wives frizz out peroxide hair And dry it in synthetic air And paint their nails. Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/88 "2010-08-03T21:10:00Z")
> [@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 Same here. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/89 "2010-08-03T23:06:12Z")
a channel or side-channel of a larger body of water. The water should be flowing-though very slowly. Around here a pond or lake is never a slough. Deep enough to navigate in-though a pirogue counts. ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/90 "2010-08-04T00:39:58Z")
First thing I thought of when I opened this thread was “it’s that thing a snake does when it gets rid of its old skin.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/91 "2010-08-04T00:51:32Z")
> [@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. It means you slew someone , but they died very sloughly. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/92 "2010-08-04T00:56:34Z")
It seems strange to hear Slough described as a “city”. I realise that the term is used slightly differently elsewhere, but Slough is the epitome of drab town-iness. Very much not a city, in our terms. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/93 "2010-08-04T01:07:32Z")
Without reading any replies, I only think of that word in conjunction with women’s periods. The process of sloughing out old tissue. Edited to add: Sorry, didn’t notice the pronunciation stipulation. My version is pronounced “sluff.” “Slew” doesn’t really make me think of anything. Maybe past tense for slaying someone? ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/94 "2010-08-04T01:51:17Z")
A triple crown winning horse, as in “Seattle Slough.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/95 "2010-08-04T02:17:14Z")
> [@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. Crap, your spoiler appeared when I clicked quote. But basically, yeah, a slough is a little inlet that resembles a river but isn’t one because it’s actually linked in some way to the ocean. There’s one in my hometown. Everyone calls it a river, but I learned that it’s technically a slough when I was in high school. Northern California, US. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/96 "2010-08-04T02:30:42Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Pronounced “slew.” Low lying stagnant ponds of accumulated drainage from groundwater or other bodies of water. Agreed, that’s how I understand it. With the additional factor that they are not necessarily a ‘wetland’ year-round. In mid summer, especially in a dry year, they may not contain any standing water. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/97 "2010-08-04T02:59:52Z")
First of all, it’s pronounced “Sl-ow” (the “ow, I’m hurt.” sound). And it’s the place where Werndham Hogg had its branch. And I didn’t realize i didn’t know how to spell Werndham Hogg until I just typed it. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/98 "2010-08-04T03:21:44Z")
Mosquito hatcheries. Pronounced “slew.” Gazillions of smallish water-filled ponds, which are holes left behind by the melting of glaciers (or so I heard), strewn over what is now the Canadian prairies. Farmers are supposed to leave a fringe of plants around the edge to catch snow and keep up the water table (which is something else I heard). Not sure how much of this is true. I also know it as “sluff” as in sloughing off skin. But ponds for mosquitoes are the first thing that pop to mind. Grew up in Saskatchewan. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/99 "2010-08-04T05:37:14Z")
Wet marshy area. From being an Alaskan and hearing the fishing/hunting/snowmachining types carry on about being stuck in Big Slough. (somewhere near Wasilla I think,\*\* chefguy\*\* can confirm, I don’t fish. :D). Whoops, forgot to add, I’ve only heard it pronounced as “slew”. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970/100 "2010-08-04T05:41:59Z")
> [@rivulus](#): > > \ But ponds for mosquitoes are the first thing that pop to mind.\ Also good for tobogganing and skating in winter (the tobogganing because they’re often the only place around with even a hint of a slope. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-slough-pronounced-slew-mean-to-you-quick/548970.md?page=6)