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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--slipshod This week's theme: words related to shoes. slipshod (SLIP-shod) adjective 1. Careless; sloppy; shabby. 2. Wearing loose shoes or slippers, especially those worn down at the heel. [From slip (slide) + shod (wearing shoes), past and past participle of shoe.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. The literal sense of this word (worn at the heel), now considered archaic, gave rise to the figurative sense (careless). The poet William Cowper used it in its original sense when he wrote these words in his 1781 poem entitled Truth: "The shivering urchin, bending as he goes, With slipshod heels ..." -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "In the lawsuit, the government stands accused of slipshod land surveys, an exaggerated advertising campaign and breaking promises." Yu Yoshitake; Broken Promises; Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo, Japan); Jun 7, 2006. X-Bonus Our incomes are like our shoes; if too small, they gall and pinch us; but if too large, they cause us to stumble and to trip. -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)

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