slop

• IPA^(key): /slɒp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒp

From Middle English slop, sloppe, slope, from Old English *slop (found in oferslop (“an outergarment, surplice”)). Cognate with Icelandic sloppur (“a long, loose gown”).

slop (plural slops)

1. (obsolete) A loose outer garment; a jacket or overall.
2. (South Africa, chiefly in the plural) A rubber thong sandal.
3. (in the plural) See slops.

• (an item of footwear): see list in flip-flop

Probably from Middle English *sloppe (attested in plural form sloppes), representing Old English *sloppe (attested in cū-sloppe), related to slip.

slop (countable and uncountable, plural slops)

1. (uncountable) Semi-solid like substance; goo, paste, mud, pulp.
2. (sometimes in the plural) Scraps used as food for animals, especially pigs or hogs.

   Synonyms: hogwash, swill

3. (chiefly in the plural) Inferior, weak drink or semi-liquid food.
4. (sometimes in the plural) Domestic liquid waste; household wastewater.
5. Water or other liquid carelessly spilled or thrown about, as upon a table or a floor; a puddle; a soiled spot.
6. (dated) Human urine or excrement.
7. (slang) Fellatio.
   • 2018, “Pull Up”, in Northsbest, performed by Lil Mosey:

     All on my dick, she won't stop, yah
     I told her to give me some slop

8. (preceded by definite article) A dance popular in the 1960s.
   • 1971, Loudon Wainwright III (lyrics and music), “Suicide Song”, in Album II:

     Do the monkey, do the pony
     Do the slop, do the boogaloo twist.

9. (Internet slang, derogatory) Content or media of little-to-no value, especially that which is produced consistently and according to trends to satisfy a recommendation algorithm or consumerist demands.

   Synonym: nontent

10. (artificial intelligence) Junk output from generative artificial intelligence published on the internet in the guise of legitimate content. (This is a hot sense, kept provisionally)

    Hypernym: spam

    • 2023 September 21, Kyle Barr, “YouTube Announces New Tools to Flood Its Platform With AI-Generated Slop”, in Gizmodo‎^[1], retrieved 2024-05-08
    • 2024 January 16, Dani Di Placido, “The Dead Internet Theory, Explained”, in Forbes.com‎^[2], retrieved 2024-05-08:

      His post describes a sense of unease, paranoia and loneliness, expressing deep disappointment at the state of the modern internet. He suggests that AI has successfully drowned out the majority of online human activity, reshaping the internet into a more controlled, algorithmic form that exists only to sell products and ideas.

      But the theory goes further than simply condemning today’s internet as dull, corporate slop—the post suggests that we rarely interact with real humans on the internet, or even see posts created by them. He also delves into some strange ideas, suggesting that the popularity of Raptor Jesus, Foul Bachelor Frog and Pepe the Frog memes are evidence of an evolving AI life-form changing its shape.

    • 2024 April 4, USA Today, Don't be fooled by deepfake videos and photos this election cycle. Here's how to spot AI‎^[3], retrieved 2024-05-08:

      Almost all of the AI-generated slop online is peddled for clicks on social media, not published by major news outlets. These publications still get tripped up, of course, but it's rare.

    • [2024 May 6, @deepfates, Twitter‎^[4]:

      Watching in real time as "slop" becomes a term of art. the way that "spam" became the term for unwanted emails, "slop" is going in the dictionary as the term for unwanted AI generated content]

    • 2024 June 11, Benjamin Hoffman, quoting Simon Willison, “First Came ‘Spam.’ Now, With A.I., We’ve Got ‘Slop’”, in The New York Times‎^[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-11:

      “Society needs concise ways to talk about modern A.I. — both the positives and the negatives,” he said. “‘Ignore that email, it’s spam,’ and ‘Ignore that article, it’s slop,’ are both useful lessons.”

    • 2024 August 21, Charlie Warzel, “The MAGA Aesthetic Is AI Slop”, in The Atlantic‎^[6]:

      In many ways, political slop is a logical end point for these image generators, which seem most useful for people trying to make a quick buck.

    • 2024 November 20, Alex Vadukul, “Coca-Cola’s Holiday Ads Trade the ‘Real Thing’ for Generative A.I.”, in The New York Times‎^[7], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

      “Coca-Cola just put out an ad and ruined Christmas,” Dylan Pearce, one of the campaign’s many critics, said on TikTok, adding, “To put out slop like this just ruins the Christmas spirit.”

      (Can we archive this URL?)

slop (third-person singular simple present slops, present participle slopping, simple past and past participle slopped)

1. (transitive) To spill or dump liquid, especially over the edge of a container when it moves.

   I slopped water all over my shirt.

2. (transitive) To spill liquid upon; to soil with a spilled liquid.
   • 1950, Howard William Troyer, The salt and the savor, page 58:

     a little Durham bull butted the pail and slopped him with the milk

3. (transitive) In the game of pool or snooker to pocket a ball by accident; in billiards, to make an ill-considered shot.
4. (transitive) To feed pigs.
5. (intransitive) To make one's way through soggy terrain.
   • 1980, The Leatherneck, volume 63, page 13:

     We slopped through paddies in 100-degree-plus heat and slept with one eye open at night.

• sloppy

Alteration of ecilop, from back slang for police.

slop (plural slops)

1. (uncommon, costermongers) A policeman.
   • 1866, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers:

     Harry looked rather bulky, you know, Tom, and the slop (policeman) says, 'Hallo, what you got here?' and by [blank] he took us both before the beak. After hearing the slop tell his tale, he says to me: 'What do you know of this man? […]

   • 1899, Richard Whiteing, chapter XXIV, in No. 5 John Street‎^[8], page 240:

     Covey’s most stimulating impression on the sense of colour is in the blue of the police. He says he shouldn’t have thought that there were so many ‘slops’ in the world, and he seems to yield for a moment to the depressing conviction that we are too much governed.

• See Thesaurus:police officer

• namesclop

• splo, POLS, pols, LPOs, lops

• IPA^(key): /slɔp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp

slop n (plural sloppen, diminutive slopje n)

1. a bad situation
2. run-down house, shanty

• (run-down house): krot

• pols

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /slɔ́p/

slȍp m inan

1. pillar

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

• slôpen

• “slop”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “slop”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references