slop

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /slɒp/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /slɑp/

• 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 flip-flop.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:flip-flop

slop (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Being or relating to slops (cheap or ready-made clothing).

Probably from Middle English *sloppe (attested in plural form sloppes), representing Old English *sloppe (attested in cūsloppe), 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. (dated) Human urine or excrement.
5. (sometimes in the plural) Domestic wastewater.
6. Liquid carelessly spilled upon a surface; a soiled spot.
7. (slang) Fellatio.

   Synonym: sloppy toppy

   • 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, “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, derogatory) Junk output from generative artificial intelligence published on the Internet in large quantities, posing as human-made content.

    Synonym: AI slop

    Hypernym: spam

    • 2023 September 21, Kyle Barr, “YouTube Announces New Tools to Flood Its Platform With AI-Generated Slop”, in Gizmodo‎^[1], retrieved 8 May 2024
    • 2024 January 16, Dani Di Placido, “The Dead Internet Theory, Explained”, in Forbes.com‎^[2], retrieved 8 May 2024:

      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, Kim Komando, “Don't be fooled by deepfake videos and photos this election cycle. Here's how to spot AI”, in USA Today‎^[3], retrieved 8 May 2024:

      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 11 June 2024:

      “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], archived from the original on 29 August 2024:

      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, archived from the original on 15 January 2025:

      “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.”

    • 2025 April 19, Jacob Silverman, “Welcome to Slop World”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 16:

      With slop, it's not so much about what the content says, or whether it's any good, than the fact that it exists and can be measured as a pageview, an ad impression, or a fake recipe book sold to a confused internet user.

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

1. (transitive) To spill or dump liquid upon; to soil with a spilled liquid.

   I slopped water all over my shirt.

   • 1950, Howard William Troyer, The salt and the savor, page 58:

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

2. (transitive, games) In a game of pool or snooker, to pocket a ball by accident; in billiards, to make an ill-considered shot.
3. (transitive) To feed pigs.
4. (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, back slang for police.

slop (plural slops)

1. (uncommon, costermongers) A policeman.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:police officer

   • 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.

• namesclop

• slop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• slop (clothing) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• AI slop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• splo, POLS, pols, LPOs, lops

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

• IPA^(key): /slɔp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp

slop n (plural sloppen, diminutive slopje n)

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

   Synonym: 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

• slôpen

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