slew, n.
"Slew" (= a large number), which most commonly appears in the phrase "whole slew," is sometimes miswritten "slough" (= a stagnant bogpronounced /sloo/) — e.g.:
o "Watch for a whole slough [read 'slew'] of indictments to be issued today stemming from a major cargo theft ring involving baggage handlers at O’Hare Airport." Michael Sneed, "Tipsville," Chicago Sun-Times, 22 May 1992, at 2.
o "There are winter onions, Egyptian onions and a whole slough [read 'slew'] of other types grown only by onion aficionados." David Robson, "The Onion Has Its Day in the Sun," State J.-Register (Springfield, Ill.), 28 Jan. 1995, at 13.
Sometimes, too, it's wrongly made "slue" (= an act of rotating or veering) — e.g.:
o "Leo's Grill features a Spanish-style wooden facade surrounded by a slue [read 'slew'] of tall trees." Barbara Rivera, "Family Grill Near Port Offers Home Cookin'," Tulsa Trib. & Tulsa World, 22 Oct. 1997, at 4.
o "Many companies and organizations have decided having a slue [read 'slew'] of managers or directors wasn't good enough and have handed out vice president titles like they were Ad Sheets on a downtown street corner." "Government Needs Change," Iowa City Press-Citizen, 7 July 2005, at A7.
Language-Change Index — (1) "slough" misused for "slew": Stage 1; (2) "slue" misused for "slew": Stage 1.
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Quotation of the Day: "A determined gang of cranks can foist a new pronunciation on us as easily as the dance-instructors or fashion-mongers can impose a new frock or foxtrot." A.P. Herbert, What a Word! 172 (1935).
