Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SLOCH, v.2, n.2 Also sl(a)ugh, slough, slach-, slock. Freq. forms slocher, slocker (Cld. 1880 Jam.), slochle. See also Sluff. [slɔx, slox; Bnff. + †sljɔx; m.Sc. + slux]
I. v. 1. tr. To swallow (food or drink) in a noisy slobbering manner (Cld. 1880 Jam., slock, slaugh; Inv., ne.Sc., Per., Slg., Fif., wm.Sc. 1970). Also absol. and in freq. form slocher, slocker, to slobber (Id.). Deriv. slocher, a slovenly messy eater, one who makes loud noises when eating or drinking, a noisy slobbering way of taking food (Gregor; ‡Ayr. 1928).Ayr. 1817 D. McKillop Poems 32:
I saw them drink the barley creed! They slugh'd it down in horrid speed.Ayr. 1904 E.D.D.:
He's nought but a slocherin swine. Used also of a pig ‘slocherin in the glaur'.
2. intr. (1) To breathe heavily and noisily as through a cold, to snuffle; also in freq. forms slocher, slocker, “to be labouring under asthma, cold or consumption”.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 168:
He's a peer slocherin' bodie. Gehn he be ae day weel, he's twa ill.
(2) To work or act carelessly or messily, to slouch around in an idle, slovenly way. Deriv. slocher, n., “a person careless in dress, particularly about the feet” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 428).
3. tr., in deriv. form slochle: to treat carelessly or with disrespect, gen. in phr. to slochle one's time, to waste one's time, idle one's time away.Abd. 1960 Press & Jnl. (4 June):
My advice to young school-leavers is: — “Dinna slochle yer time, or put a wishbone faur yer backbone ought tae be.”
II. n. 1. Slime, slobber (Cld. 1880 Jam., sloch, slauch). Derivs. slochie, slauchy, slimy, dirty and disgusting (Ib.; Ags., Per., Kcb. 1970), comb. slachy-bubble, n., ash bark, used by children as a substitute for chewing-gum; slaucher, an unattractive hotch-potch of food, a sloppy dish.Abd. 1934:
The ground was a' weet and slochy.Bnff. 1949 Bnff. Jnl. (1 Nov.):
A slauchy herrin' playin' plap against yer moo'.Per.4 1950:
A slaucher like a pig's breakfast.Ags. 1952 Forfar Dispatch (4 Sept.):
Did ye ken that afore ye bocht chewin gum in packets a' ye hed tae dae wiz brak aff a bit ash bark and chowe awa at that? It frothed up and wiz fine. Ye ca'd it slachy bubble.
2. A noisy intake of food or drink, a slobbering gulp (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 167, slocher; Cld. 1880 Jam., sloch, slaugh); a hearty drink, a good swig, in this last sense phs. altered forms of Slock, n.1, 1.w.Sc. 1869 A. McDonald Settlement (1877) 239:
Some o' them can tak' a guid sloch o' whuskey tae.Lnk. 1915 Rymour Club Misc. II. 149:
Wi a slough they're sae enchanted.Sc. 1936 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 116:
I'd a fearful longin' for a good slauch o' venison broth.Per.4 1970:
Gie me a sloch o lemonade.
3. A gurgling in the throat, a breathing through catarrh or asthma (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 167, slocher).
4. A slatternly person, especially a woman (Kcd., Ags. 1970).
[Etym. uncertain. Prob. chiefly imit., with influence from Slock, v., Sluch, Slaik, Slag, n.1, v.1, and some of the forms may in fact be variants of these. Eng. has sloff, now only dial., to gulp food.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Sloch v.2, n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 27 Dec 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sloch_v2_n2>
