wordaday

Slew, meaning “A large amount or number; a lot: a slew of unpaid bills,” like slogan, is now a perfectly good English word, though you might be more familiar with it spelled slue. Slew, like slogan, comes to Modern English by way of Old Irish slúgh, a word that means “host, ” as in a multitude of people or animals. It’s’ not to be confused with any of the other slews in English.

There’s slew, the past tense of the verb slay; there’s the slew that’s a variant spelling of slough:

1. A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.
2. also slue A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.
3. A state of deep despair or moral degradation.

This slew, or rather slough, has a good English pedigree; it’s Middle English, from Old English sloh, and pronounced like “sloo.”

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