slew?

Arnold M. Zwicky zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU
Tue Jun 19 14:56:14 UTC 2007


On Jun 19, 2007, at 7:31 AM, Hillary Brown wrote:

>> From a dining blurb in the New Yorker:
>
> "Montauk bluefish, with Trapani truffle salt, for instance, is
> accompanied by a slew of woodsy mushrooms and mashed potatoes that
> possesses a surprising depth of flavor."
>
> Can mashed potatoes be part of a slew?

puzzling.  the only sense of "slew" i could get in "a slew of woodsy
mushrooms and mashed potatoes" is 'a lot of' -- but that should take
plural verb agreement in this case.  the intended sense seems to be
some sort of food preparation (in which mushrooms and mashed potatoes
are combined, in this case).  slaw?  there are extended senses of
"slaw" in which cabbage doesn't have to be involved, but such slaws
are similar to coleslaw, and i don't see how you can get mashed
potatoes into such a salad.

arnold

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