From J.L.: Language Log has only one entry on slop (Dec. 21,2025), and I couldn't figure out how to comment there. I was wondering about its origins. Could it be a non-ethnic version of schlock? The sound is similar, and the meaning is identical. If so, the change might be part of a more general trend — Yiddish terms fading from American speech, even or especially in social and geographic places where they were more common. At least that's my very unscientific impression. Is there any data on this? For slop, Wiktionary says (Etymology 2): Probably from Middle English *sloppe (attested in plural form sloppes), representing Old English *sloppe (attested in cūsloppe), alternative form of Old English slyppe. Related to slip. For schlock, Wiktionary says: From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow, strike, hit”). So the actual etymologies are different, despite the similarities in sound and the overlap in (figurative) meanings. The Wiktionary entry for slop adds this…
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