Editor's Corner

Dear Editrix,

What is a slush fund?

Sincerely,

Curious in Cincinnati

Dear Curious,

This was certainly an interesting read, although I hope your tummy’s ready for the etymology! Here is the definition of a slush fund and its etymology from Wikipedia:

A slush fund, also known as a black fund, is a fund or account maintained for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from other funds that are used for legitimate purposes. They may be employed by government or corporate officials as part of efforts to discreetly pay influential people in return for preferential treatment, advance information (for example, to acquire non-public information in financial transactions) or some other service

The term slush fund was originally a nautical term: the slush was the fat or grease skimmed from the top of the cauldron when boiling salted meat. Ship officers would sell the fat to tallow makers, with the resulting proceeds kept as a slush fund for making small purchases for the ship’s crew.

Of course, I don’t like political corruption very much, so I prefer maintaining a slushie fund instead. Here’s what the internet has to say about the Slurpee® and slushie arena:

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

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