1. the cast-off skin of a snake
2. a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
3. something that may be shed or cast off
how to use in casual conversation:
"i realize parts of you are sloughing off right now, but you could be a little nicer"
"i'm going to slough you like a bad habit"
not to be confused with:
how it makes me feel:
i try to be honest about these things. i try to be honest about most things. you want honesty? this makes me feel gross. let's ignore the fact that once again MW has given us some sophomoric crap and tried to pass it off as a WOTD. let's ignore the fact the WOTD on MW's open dictionary had 'baby mama' displayed for a good part of yesterday. the word is pronounced like "sluff". there is another slough that's pronounced like "slo" or "slew" but this one ain't it. slough(sluff) is kinda nasty, and not like 'ohhh-you're-so-nasty' nasty but like 'holy-crap-this-sewer-is-nasty' nasty. the only time i've really heard this term used was in biology class referring to a perfectly normal, natural phenomenon - which is none the less still kinda gross. whether you're capable of sloughing(sluffing) or not, i think we could all agree on this at some level. so not only is slough(sluff) a weak entry, but it reminds me of an important and understandable biological process which most all of us would do away with if we could. oh biology....
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I seem to remember some kind of extreme weight-loss program that promised to help the user slough off layers of fat. I imagined the skin coming with it, and the dieter standing there with raw muscles exposed, all their cellulose and flesh pooled around their ankles. I did not appreciate this marketing technique, and now whenever I read "slough" I go right back to that scene.
ReplyDeleteOh I hate that word.
ReplyDelete