Another meaning of the vulgar word "slut"

Question

I guess people who speak American and Philippine English will unanimously agree that the word "slut" is a very offensive term referring to a promiscuous woman. However, Merriam-Webster and Oxford Advanced Learner's also attach another meaning to the word--a slovenly woman--and this is supposedly chiefly British.

slut: a lazy, careless, or slovenly woman : slattern (that slut of a housekeeper — Margaret Kennedy) --Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary

To speakers of British English: how often would one use the word "slut" in reference to a messy or untidy woman? Is this usage current or obsolescent?

Answer 1

I'm British - and definitely getting to be the wrong side of "middle-aged", which may have a bearing. But so far as I'm concerned, slut primarily means the first definition in OED...

- a woman of dirty, slovenly, or untidy habits or appearance

Nor do I disagree with their second definition...

- a woman of a low or loose character; a bold or impudent girl; a hussy, jade

That second definition could include anything from a woman who (provocatively or carelessly) shows more bare flesh than is proper, to one who indulges in casual sex more often than most.

But I personally would never extend it to mean "a women who trades sex for money" except where all the above attributes applied anyway, and were more relevant to my context.

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But all such words have not only an inherent range of meanings in and of themselves; different people have widely differing value judgements concerning cleanliness, tidiness, sexuality, etc. Not to mention which there are the figurative and facetious usages. Many a male has been accused of whoring himself to [whatever the writer disapproves of].

Use of sexually-loaded terms is also significantly influenced by "publicly-acknowledged morality", as portrayed in the media, and that can vary widely by country. I've recently watched several American "Coming-of-age / High school/college" movies. It took me a while to realise that in that context, blow-jobs are usually seen as "normal, heavy petting", whereas penetrative sex is usually classed as "whoring" regardless of whether anyone actually paid for it. That's Hollywood for you. British movies don't often feature oral sex - but if they do, it's more like "getting to fourth base" (where third base is intercourse).

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EDIT: I prefaced this answer by pointing out that it's only a British perspective (which is what OP asked for anyway). But my gut feeling was that younger Brits don't even use slut - they use slag for "promiscuous female or male", and slob for "untidy/dirty/lazy person" (again, unisex).

Google NGrams appears to support my feeling. Check this chart to see how slut has steadily risen in the AmE corpus in recent decades (switch to the BrE corpus and you'll see a corresponding fall). And check this chart to see how she's a slag has gained currency in the BrE corpus (switch to the AmE corpus to see that Americans simply don't use that word often enough to chart usage at all).

It may therefore be true that on the relatively few occasions when younger Brits do come across slut in their native land, they might tend to ascribe it the modern American sense - simply because that's the one they're most likely to have encountered through international media, movies, etc.

Answer 2

You can act or look like a slut in as much as your manner of dress, makeup, and behaviour suggests that you are on the lookout for a man, any man, because you want or need the confirmation that you are sexually attractive. In this case, a slut (technically speaking) is not, and never is a prostitute, but a promiscuous woman or one who at the very least gives that impression.

If a woman is slutty or sluttish, it could mean her appearance is slovenly, her makeup carelessly applied, her hair unkempt, but only because in the collective imaginary, people tend to associate cheap bright red lipstick, caked mascara, and holey fishnet tights (pantyhose in the US) with sluttish behaviour.

I don't think I have ever heard a woman being described as being a slut if she was generally untidy or unkempt. The word I would hear most often, in those instances, would be a slob.

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EDIT 1

I'm going to play the British card now myself. I was born in London and lived there until I was a teenager, and I regularly go back to London for visits and short holidays. I was familiar with the term, slut, before moving to Italy circa 30 years ago, for me it's a well-established word whose meaning I have described above. The first definition may be found more often in books, which probably explains why the OED lists it as being first. However, Oxford Dictionaries, and The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary both state that slut is:

1a) a woman who has many casual sexual partners

and list it as their first definition.

I'm certain that British native speakers today are more familiar with that definition than with its more dated one; a woman whose general appearance is unclean. I looked for references to back my gut reaction, and I looked for how the word is used today in speech, not in works of literature. I thought of The Daily Mail, a British online newspaper, right-wing, an unreliable source if one is looking for objectivity in the news but an excellent one to witness how the English language is developing. The earliest reference to slut I found in a piece dated o9/o3/2001, entitled Born Romantic

British effort of the week is Born Romantic, a comedy about various young Londoners who frequent a salsa club. There's a well-spoken bitch (Olivia Williams), a mousy, morbid neurotic (Catherine McCormack in spectacles) and a rampant slut (Jane Horrocks).

They are pursued, in a way that's hard to distinguish from sexual harassment, by a charmless, married Scotsman (Craig Ferguson), a pathetic, incompetent mugger (Jimi Mistry) and a self-pitying, slobbish Scouser (David Morrissey).

I strongly doubt that The Daily Mail would use a term which their readers would largely be unaware of or might confuse it for meaning an unclean, slovenly woman. The comedy, by the way and its actors are/were all British too.

I include here the Daily Mail link showing the results for "slut" starting from the most relevant. Probably there are some pieces where women are criticized for their laziness and called sluts, probably AmEng has influenced as to how the younger British speakers interpret the word today; I don't doubt it for a second, but I'm convinced that nowadays British speakers are largely unaware of its original meaning - "c.1400, "a dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman"

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EDIT 2

I wish I had come across this answer posted several months earlier, further proof that nowadays British people tend to associate loose sexual behaviour with the term slut. This post I found purely by chance, but when I read the answer it reminded me of this question. All emphases are mine.

The user was answering the question “Man” is to “womanizer” as “woman” is to what?

Please excuse me if you find these terms profane but, my grandmother would refer to woman who chases men as a slut, although this is sometimes used to describe a girl as dirty or messy. I do recall a man using the term to describe another who was especially open and active in her choice of bedfellows. [...]

^{Jodrell May 28 '12. His profile page states he is from the UK}

Answer 3

This may not be an answer to your question, but some interesting trivia.

I'm a German native speaker and we have the word "Schlampe", which accurately translates to slut. The corresponding adjective to "Schlampe" is "schlampig". Interestingly enough, "schlampig" has two different meanings, that correlate with your question:

• schlampig as in sluttish.
• schlampig as in slovenly, messy, filthy.

In German these two meanings are still implied today. You have to guess by the context, which meaning is the correct. Nevertheless, "Schlampe" and "schlampig" is always offensive. This makes it plausible, that the double-meaning of "slut" dates back even further than previously thought of.

In medieval and pre-medieval times "sluts" were most likely the lowest class of the society. They were linked to filth and diseases. Therefore the bonding of the two meanings seems logical.

The theory of a Germanic origin is supported by this Etymology Dictionary.

Answer 4

It must be more than obsolescent in that context. It would be obsolete. I have not heard it used in the UK.

Answer 5

I can remember once hearing someone who would now being in her early 30s using the word in this sense (about 10 years ago, so she would then have been in her early 20s). Her use was facetious, but when I asked her about it (because I am after all the sort of person who is interested in words), and she said that she had grown up thinking of the word primarily in the original "unkempt, slovenly" sense, but considered herself unusual in this; that it was more a matter of her ideolect based on family use than a common opinion.

More generally, I would say that among younger English-speakers in Britain and Ireland, not only would the original sense not be the primary one, but some may not even be aware of it at all. I've certainly heard it used, but generally with a tone that suggested people considered it obsolete, and often deliberately joking on the primary meaning being related to sex.

Of course, the reason the word has both senses, is from the two traits being conflated; assuming that a woman who does not keep a tidy house or is untidy in her personal appearance would have "loose sexual morals", which is an opinion less likely to be held, in a whole variety of ways. (Personally, whenever I've engaged in "loose sexual morals" with a woman, they've tended to get dressed up a bit first, YMMV).

Answer 6

I guess the Webster is wrong since it says: "First Known Use: 15th century". But actual etymology says it's existed since the 14th century, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Answer 7

Just an interesting alternative usage: we used it to mean "took from someone not quite by stealing, but more by asking without waiting for permission."

As an example: "John slutted one of my beers! He just walked up, said, 'Hey! Beer!' and took one!"

This may be entirely the dialect of my fraternity house when I was in college, though.