Slough off
Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions regarding the following passage:
This realization was a strong personal persuader, and I decided to lower my standards a bit. My productivity then became dramatically enhanced, as well as my levels of satisfaction.
How can this work for you? Suppose you have a task and you notice you're moving slowly. You may find that you've already reached the point of diminishing returns, and you'd do better by moving on to the next task. I'm not advocating that you slough off, but you may find that you as well as others will be equally if not more pleased with many good, solid performances than with one stress-producing masterpiece.
I don't quite understand what the phrasal verb slough off means in the second paragraph. Does it mean "to leave the task unfinished"? If you don't mind, could you give me some examples of its synonyms so I can understand better? Besides, does this phrasal verb not require an objective? I mean, I think it should be used like "slough it off" in terms of grammar.
Top answer
Hi The reference is to a snake's skin. During the phases of a snake's life, it loses its skin, whilst another has grown underneath. That's called 'sloughing off' Metaphorically, it means that we go through times in our life when we get rid of old habits and start doing new things It's not really a phrasal verb - it's a metaphor.
- Hi The reference is to a snake's skin.
- During the phases of a snake's life, it loses its skin, whilst another has grown underneath.
- That's called 'sloughing off' Metaphorically, it means that we go through times in our life when we get rid of old habits and start doing new things It's not really a phrasal verb - it's a metaphor.
- There are times in your life when you have to slough off Dave
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Hi
The reference is to a snake's skin. During the phases of a snake's life, it loses its skin, whilst another has grown underneath. That's called 'sloughing off'
Metaphorically, it means that we go through times in our life when we get rid of old habits and start doing new things
It's not really a phrasal verb - it's a metaphor. There are times in your life when you have t
0seagullI'm not advocating that you slough off,
Intransitive. It is an idiom. It means to be lazy, to slow down, and to do the minimum amount to get by.
E.g.
Joe won't get any merit pay raise. He's always sloughing off.
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