I have just pulled my copy of Chambers dictionary off my shelf (if I really want to know what a word means, I don't use online dictionaries) and looked up the word "slut".
It is defined as "a dirty, untidy woman: a wench*, a jade**: a bitch, a female dog: a greased rag used as a candle."
The gent from UKIP was obviously using the word in the first sense of that definition.
What interested me is that 20 years ago I was speaking to a gentleman of good breeding. His family had owned a small highland estate for some generations, and he had been a very eminent man in his day. He was also a prominent and lifelong member of the Liberal Party, and after that the LibDems. In conversation with me, he was describing one of women whose husband worked on his estate, and, somewhat to my astonishment, the word he used was "slut". It was obvious from the context that what he meant was that her house was filthy.
* The main meaning of "Wench" apparently is " a damsel, girl, working girl, a maidservant."
**"Jade", apparently means "a sorry horse, a worthless nag: a woman, esp. perverse, ill-natured, or not to be trusted, often in irony." (Why Miss Goody's parents chose such a name for their daughter is beyond me.)
Last edited by: tyro on Fri 20 Sep 13 at 17:47
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