Slough

Type

Mud, Wetland

Area of origin

UK

Area of use

International

Related terms

Quagmire

A swamp, mire or marshy place. Particularly associated with those places where soft,wet ground presents a significant obstacle to free movement or even to escape – metaphorically illustrated by the “slough of despond” in which John Bunyan’s hero is bogged down by sin and guilt in “Pilgrim’s Progress”.

See also “Slough“, John Betjeman’s hate poem to the eponymous town.

 

Etymology

Old English slōh ‘soft, muddy piece of ground’. Uncertain origin

Example locations

  • Slough of Firbriggs
    The Cabrach, Moray, Scotland
  • Black Slough
    Saxmundham

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Entry contributors:

M. Hamilton, Alex Thurley-Ratcliff