Word of the Day

: May 10, 2018

slumgullion

noun SLUM-gull-yun

What It Means

: a meat stew

slumgullion in Context

The slumgullion was hot, savory, and hearty, and on this rainy night we were all eager for seconds.

"She rode up a small dirt hill to a grassy clearing bordered by cabins, where she got a glimpse of the rock, big enough to seat at least a dozen campers, where she and her scouts had cooked slumgullion, a stew of meat and vegetables, over a camp fire." — Jodi Weigand, The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 9 Aug. 2007

Did You Know?

Slumgullion may not sound like the most appetizing name for a dish, but that's part of its charm. The word's etymology doesn't necessarily do it any favors: while the origins of slumgullion are somewhat murky, the word is believed to derive from slum, an old word for "slime," and gullion, an English dialectical term for "mud" or "cesspool." The earliest recorded usages of slumgullion, including one from Mark Twain's Roughing It (1872), refer not to a stew but a beverage. The sense referring to the stew debuted a few decades later, and while there is no consensus on exactly what ingredients are found in it, that's the slumgullion that lives on today.