slippery slope
34
5.7
- noun
:
pendiente resbaladiza
- That's the slippery slope that we have to stay away from.
- a slippery slope argument
- lead to a slippery slope
- avoid a slippery slope
That's the slippery slope that we have to stay away from.
- That's the slippery slope that we have to stay away from.
- So it's the classic slippery slope kind of problem that we worry about came to fruition.
- And it I guess even the further deeper questions how, how, how easy it is for human nature to go on the slippery slope that ends in genocide.
- But you're on a slippery slope to thinking that there is nothing whatsoever that you can do, right.
- But you know, anytime someone starts to try to break you down psychologically or emotionally, you're on a slippery slope there.
- And I think that is a slippery slope to get in with your soul.
- That's it's a very slippery slope to fall down.
- And now that is a, that's a slippery slope because it still fucking hurts.
Examples
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Therefore, the U.S. credit rating is on a slippery slope, and more downgrades are inescapable.
Blog text (13) -
And this is the trouble with slippery slope arguments.
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Once you start down that slippery slope, where do you stop?
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We're on a very slippery slope here, Sam.
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Breaking the little laws is the beginning of the slippery slope to major crime.
Blog text (7) -
There is no avoiding the slippery slope problem; the only possible option is to choose where to stop along it.
Academic text (2002) -
Perhaps the slide down the slippery slope will not be as dramatic as the critics quoted here suggest.
Academic text (2001) -
We are right now going down a slippery slope where populism will replace the rule of law.
Blog text (11) -
But remember, federally funded care is a slippery slope leading to higher taxes and lousy service.
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The new regulations could lead us down a slippery slope of increasing restrictions on personal freedoms.
Synonyms
2
4.2
A situation where something gets bigger quickly and becomes hard to stop
A fast chain of problems where each causes the next
Antonyms
How Risky
5
8.4
- Informal
1
8.2
34
5.7
7
5.4
1
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
slippery + slope
The phrase evokes the concrete image of a slope that causes someone to slide (slippery + slope), so a learner who knows both words can infer a sense of progression toward worse outcomes. However, the expression functions as a conventionalized metaphor and its pragmatic use as a rhetorical warning about cascading consequences may not be fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase slippery slope comes from the image of a wet hill: if you step onto a slippery slope you start to slide and it is hard to stop. That's why people use it for a situation 'likely to lead to worse results'.