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Torture is such a slippery slope; as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get a situation where people are being tortured for very trivial reasons.
Iain Banks

Meaning of "slippery slope" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF SLIPPERY SLOPE

slippery slope play
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WHAT DOES SLIPPERY SLOPE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Slippery slope

In logic and critical thinking, a slippery slope is a logical device, but it is usually known under its fallacious form, in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any rational argument or demonstrable mechanism for the inevitability of the event in question. A slippery slope argument states that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect, much like an object given a small push over the edge of a slope sliding all the way to the bottom. The strength of such an argument depends on the warrant, i.e. whether or not one can demonstrate a process that leads to the significant effect. The fallacious sense of "slippery slope" is often used synonymously with continuum fallacy, in that it ignores the possibility of middle ground and assumes a discrete transition from category A to category B. Modern usage avoids the fallacy by acknowledging the possibility of this middle ground.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SLIPPERY SLOPE

slippage
slipped
slipped disc
slipper
slipper bath
slipper satin
slipper-like
slippered
slipperiness
slipperwort
slippery
slippery dip
slippery elm
slippier
slippiest
slippily
slippiness
slipping
slippy
slipsheet

WORDS THAT END LIKE SLIPPERY SLOPE

antelope
aslope
back-of-the-envelope
bunny slope
downslope
dry-ski slope
dry slope
elope
envelope
glide slope
lope
natural slope
nursery slope
Penelope
self-addressed envelope
self-addressed stamped envelope
ski slope
slope
Trollope
upslope

Synonyms and antonyms of slippery slope in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «slippery slope» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF SLIPPERY SLOPE

Find out the translation of slippery slope to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of slippery slope from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «slippery slope» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

滑坡
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

pendiente resbaladiza
570 millions of speakers

English

slippery slope
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

फिसलन ढलान
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

منحدر زلق
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

скользкий путь
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

ladeira escorregadia
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

পিচ্ছিল ঢাল
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

pente glissante
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

cerun licin
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

rutschiger Abhang
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

滑りやすい坂道
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

어려운 상황에 처하게
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Slope slope
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

độ dốc trơn
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

வழுக்கும் சாய்வு
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

निसरडा उतार
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Kaygan eğim
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

pendio scivoloso
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

śliskie zbocze
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

слизький шлях
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

pantă alunecoasă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

κατήφορο
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

glybaan
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

hal is
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

glattisen
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of slippery slope

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SLIPPERY SLOPE»

The term «slippery slope» is regularly used and occupies the 59.820 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
72
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «slippery slope» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of slippery slope
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «slippery slope».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SLIPPERY SLOPE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «slippery slope» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «slippery slope» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about slippery slope

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «SLIPPERY SLOPE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word slippery slope.
1
David Baltimore
The argument has been made in Congress that it is slippery slope if you allow therapeutic, what people people are calling therapeutic cloning, then you will get reproductive cloning.
2
Iain Banks
Torture is such a slippery slope; as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get a situation where people are being tortured for very trivial reasons.
3
Halle Berry
I see women in their 30s getting plastic surgery, pulling this up and tucking that back. It's like a slippery slope - once you start you pull one thing one way and then you think, 'Oh my God, I've got to do the other side.'
4
Ray Comfort
This society in which we live is radically changing. What previous generations saw as evil is now embraced as being good. It is a dangerous and slippery slope upon which we stand when we reject what Solomon called the beginning of wisdom - the fear of God.
5
Clyde Edgerton
A parentologist is a person who writes a book about parenting that is very clear about answers to, 'How am I supposed to raise my child?' Some of these well-intentioned people may be a bit too sure-footed on the sometimes slippery slope of parenting.
6
Stu Jackson
Once you begin reviewing judgment calls, which in basketball there are many, you put yourself on a very slippery slope in terms of what could be reviewed, and ultimately the number of reviews that could take place that would make it unwieldy.
7
Leon Kass
Once you put human life in human hands, you have started on a slippery slope that knows no boundaries.
8
Barbara Lee
I wish the press were paying more attention to the erosion of the Constitution and the slippery slope that we're getting into, by giving up the right of the Congress to talk about when and how and where we go to war.
9
John McCarthy
When I see a slippery slope, my instinct is to build a terrace.
10
Ronnie Musgrove
Conservatives are telling elected leaders that expansion of Medicaid comes at a moral - or more overtly, a political - price. At what price are they willing to go back on years of proclaiming 'socialized medicine' as the slippery slope to 'rationing of health care,' 'death panels' and other claims far too gruesome to mention in polite company?

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SLIPPERY SLOPE»

Discover the use of slippery slope in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to slippery slope and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Slippery Slope
We, however, consider these miserable so-called adventure stories and the Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey that accompanied the books for children as nothing more than a dreadful mistake.
Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist, 2010
2
A Series of Unfortunate Events #10: The Slippery Slope
With the weather turning colder, this is one chilling book you would be better off without. Ages 10+
Lemony Snicket, 2009
3
Down the Slippery Slope: Arguing in Applied Ethics
First Published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
David Lamb, 2013
4
It's a Slippery Slope
Within the span of a single year, Spalding Gray marries and divorces one woman, moves in with another who bears him a son, and learns to ski
Spalding Gray, 1997
5
Forced exit: the slippery slope from assisted suicide to ...
Now thoroughly revised and updated to keep pace with the movement's advance, this important book provides chilling evidence of how powerful and dangerous the death culture in America has become.
Wesley J. Smith, 2003
6
The Slippery Slope to Genocide: Reducing Identity Conflicts ...
This book identifies genocide as the culmination of conflicts over identity. Genocide is a pathologically defensive reaction made by people who feel that they are in danger of extinction.
Mark Anstey, I. William Zartman, Paul Meerts, 2012
7
Slippery Slope Arguments
Douglas Walton argues that slippery slope arguments can be used correctly in some cases as a reasonable type of argument to shift a burden of proof in a critical discussion, while in other cases they are used incorrectly.
Douglas N. Walton, 1992
8
Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice
Slippery Slope Arguments Often, a slippery slope argument is a metaphor that is used as a “beware the Ides of March” warning with no justification or formal, logical evidence to back it up (Ryan, 1998, p. 341). A slippery slope situation is one ...
Janie B. Butts, Karen L. Rich, 2013
9
A slippery slope: the long road to the breakup of AT&T
This book presents, for the first time, a complete history of the events that led to the breakup of the Bell System on January 1, 1984.
Fred W. Henck, Bernard Strassburg, 1988
10
The Slippery Slope: Explaining the Increase in Extreme ...
Explaining the Increase in Extreme Poverty in Urban Brazil, 1976-1996 Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Ricardo Paes de Barros. effect in this simulation suggests that these factors were immiserizing in urban Brazil, over the period. [See Figure 7 in  ...
Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Ricardo Paes de Barros, 1999

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SLIPPERY SLOPE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term slippery slope is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Stepping on a Slippery Slope
My son Nick, a podcast aficionado, suggested recently that I'd enjoy a podcast called “StartUp,” which tells stories of companies that are just starting out. «New York Times, Jul 15»
2
MURPHY'S LAW: Summer ... A Slippery Slope
Summer--A Slippery Slope. Just yesterday I was putting up the flag buntings on my banisters and taking silk flower arrangements to the cemetery for Memorial ... «Keyser Mineral Daily News Tribune, Jul 15»
3
Name-changing symbolism could be a slippery slope: Dan Walters
The 2015 legislative session may — or may not — be otherwise memorable, but certainly will be known for symbolic gestures that drift into censorship. Earlier in ... «LA Daily News, Jul 15»
4
Jennifer Aniston Calls Cosmetic Injections 'a Slippery, Slippery Slope'
Jennifer Aniston has said in the past that she doesn't believe in injections. She's sticking to that theory. "It just doesn't help. It's a slippery, slippery slope," she told ... «ABC News, Jun 15»
5
This armadillo sliding down a slippery slope might be the funniest …
This is the hilarious (and pretty adorable) moment a tiny armadillo tried and failed to climb up a slippery ramp - much to the amusement of enthralled zoo visitors. «Mirror.co.uk, Jun 15»
6
Slippery slope for Stamford come July
Tickets go on sale Wednesday for Slide the City Stamford, a “slip and slide” the length of three football fields that will be set up in downtown Stamford on Sunday, ... «CT News, May 15»
7
Ogonowski: Avoid “Slippery Slope” With PPM
This is a dangerous and slippery slope,” he wrote. “Put simply, these devices make your radio station sound worse, driving more listeners away from traditional ... «Radio World, May 15»
8
The Spectator's View: Racial profiling by police a slippery slope
On the surface, it seems ironic that anti-racism advocates are the ones who want Hamilton police to start tracking ethnic information as a way to measure racial ... «Hamilton Spectator, Apr 15»
9
FULL FRAME: Ariely's Dis(Honesty) a ride down slippery slope of lying
The film was originally called “Slippery Slopes,” Melamede said, because it was stories of people who knew they were doing something wrong but thought ... «Durham Herald Sun, Apr 15»
10
Hear Dar Williams and Jim Lauderdale Dissect Marriage in 'Slippery
There's mellow, acoustic moments where lyrics are at the forefront, like on "Slippery Slope" or the title track, featuring Thompson. But then there's also the poppy ... «RollingStone.com, Apr 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Slippery slope [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/slippery-slope>. Apr 2024 ».
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