Word for the Day, Monday, February 1, 2010--slough

mark steyn column | 2/1/2010 | xs

[xsmommy]

Word For The Day, Monday, 2/1/10

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In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".

slough; noun/verb

noun[1]1 1. an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamplike region. 2. a hole full of mire, as in a road. 3. Also, slew, slue. Northern U.S. and Canadian. a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, or the like. 4. a condition of degradation, despair, or helplessness.

–noun[2] 1. the outer layer of the skin of a snake, which is cast off periodically. 2. Pathology. a mass or layer of dead tissue separated from the surrounding or underlying tissue. 3. anything that is shed or cast off. 4. Cards. a discard.

–verb (used without object) 5. to be or become shed or cast off, as the slough of a snake. 6. to cast off a slough. 7. Pathology. to separate from the sound flesh, as a slough. 8. Cards. to discard a card or cards.

–verb (used with object) 9. to dispose or get rid of; cast (often fol. by off): to slough off a bad habit. 10. to shed as or like a slough. 11. Cards. to discard (cards

Etymology: 1250–1300; ME slughe, slouh skin of a snake; c. G Schlauch skin, bag

Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.

The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....

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[Zajko]

Yes, I remember reading that years ago at school. ‘Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough, it isn’t fit for humans now...’ - I always thought that just about summed Slough up :)

[secret garden]

From Mark Steyn:
In my book America Alone, I point out that, to a five-year old boy waving his flag as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee procession marched down the Mall in 1897, it would have been inconceivable that by the time of his eightieth birthday the greatest empire the world had ever known would have shriveled to an economically moribund strike-bound socialist slough of despond, one in which (stop me if this sounds familiar) the government ran the hospitals, the automobile industry and much of the housing stock, and, partly as a consequence thereof, had permanent high unemployment and confiscatory tax rates that drove its best talents to seek refuge abroad.

[xsmommy]

that is horrifying! A+++

[xsmommy]

gorgeous! A+++

[xsmommy]

that’s IT!~ i even tried googling his columns and couldn’t find it.I never have time to read National Review from cover to cover before the next issue comes so i am always reading several issues at the same time and could not recall which it was in. Thanks!

[east1234]

I know the pronounciation as “slew”, not sure if thats correct or varies locally.