Meaning
A short, striking phrase used to promote a cause, product, team, or idea; more historically, a rallying cry or watchword of a clan or faction. The word is fully assimilated and neutral, ranging from advertising taglines to protest chants, and can be faintly dismissive ('a mere slogan'). Neutral across journalism, marketing, and politics, but often carries a hint of contrived brevity. Regional use: General English (borrowed from Scottish Gaelic).
Origin
An English remolding of Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, literally 'army cry' (sluagh 'army, host' plus gairm 'cry, call'), the shout a Highland clan raised as it charged into battle. It entered English in the early 1500s in older spellings such as slogorne - Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1513 - and settled into the modern spelling with 'battle cry' as its core sense by the later 17th century. The figurative sense of a distinctive phrase attached to a political or other group emerged in 1704, opening the road to today's commercial and campaign uses. The Gaelic sluagh is also the source of English 'slew', as in 'a slew of things'.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- slogane
- slogorn
- slogorne
- slughorn
Usage Examples
- The candidate's slogan appeared on billboards, bumper stickers, and far too many foam hats.
- A good slogan can outlive the product it was invented to sell.
- The trail crew adopted 'leave it better than you found it' as their unofficial slogan.