This week’s theme
Words having nautical origins

This week’s words
offing
jury-rig
slush fund
pinchgut
jettison

Like what you see here?
Send a gift subscription
It’s free.

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(sluhsh fuhnd)

MEANING:

noun: A fund established for illegal activities, especially in business and politics.

ETYMOLOGY:

Originally, a slush fund was money collected to buy small luxuries for a ship’s crew. The fund was raised from the sale of slush (refuse fat) from the ship’s galley. Earliest documented use: 1839.

USAGE:

“[Choi] used her friendship with the South Korean leader to pressure businesses into donating to charitable foundations, which served as her personal slush fund.”
Spiritualist at Centre of Crisis Goes on Trial; The Nelson Mail (New Zealand); Dec 20, 2016.

See more usage examples of slush fund in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: