Idiom
Slippery slope
A slippery slope is a situation where one small step is likely to lead to more and more serious steps that are hard to stop.
How people use it
People use it to warn that a small change will snowball: "Letting one deadline slide is a slippery slope." Common patterns are "a slippery slope" and "start down a slippery slope." In logic and debate, the slippery slope argument names reasoning that claims, without good evidence, that one step will lead to a chain of bad results. So the phrase can be a sincere warning or a criticism of weak reasoning, depending on who is talking. The tone is neutral.
Also said: slippery slope argument.
Examples
- For Omar, skipping the gym once because of rain can become a slippery slope.
- Lending money to one coworker felt like a slippery slope, so Priya made a rule against it.
- Some parents think extra screen time on school nights is a slippery slope.
Where it comes from
The image is simple: once you start sliding on a slippery hillside, it is hard to stop. English writers have used slippery slopes and paths as warnings about bad habits for centuries. Its use as the name for a type of argument became common in the 1900s.
Check yourself
1. What does it mean to call something a slippery slope?
Answer: One small step could lead to worse and worse results. A slippery slope is a small first step that may lead to a chain of bigger problems.
2. Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Answer: Eating one cookie before dinner can be a slippery slope for me.. The first sentence warns that a small treat may lead to more, which is the idiom's meaning.
Similar idioms
Word game fan? See every word hiding in SLOPE.