Sline

First Appearance and Context

A quoted entry from The Dictionary (4th edition) defines “Sline” with multiple senses and historical notes. In the same period, avout use the plural “slines” in casual speech while walking beyond the walls among local neighborhoods, indicating current, everyday usage extramuros.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Language and register: In Fluccish of the late Praxic Age and early Reconstitution, “Sline” arose as a truncation of “baseline.”
• Adjectival sense: Originally a noun that also functions adjectivally meaning “common” or “widely shared.”
• Noun sense (preferred): A person living extramuros with no special education or skills and little expectation of acquiring them.
• Deprecated sense: A derogatory label for a stupid or uncouth person (especially one proud of such traits). The Dictionary notes this sense is deprecated in favor of the neutral, social descriptor above.

Relationships

• Reference authority: The Dictionary records the term’s senses and recommends usage, tagging them by period and register.
• Social context: Contrasts with the mathic world; usage refers to people and life extramuros.
• Iconography note: “The Sline” also appears as a labeled general type in mathic decorative programs, listed alongside other figures; no further details are given.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Word formation: Truncation of “baseline,” with usage as both noun and adjective in Fluccish.
• Connotation: Contemporary use ranges from neutral/clinical (social descriptor) to pejorative; the pejorative sense is discouraged in reference usage.
• Usage in speech: Both singular “sline” and plural “slines” appear as everyday common nouns. In casual conversation about satellite orbits and coordinate-based calculations, a speaker uses “any sline” and the phrase “any old dumb sline” to contrast intuitive sky‑watching with formal theorics, illustrating how pejorative shading can surface in spontaneous usage.

Current Status/Location

Actively used in the surrounding communities outside the walls and understood within the maths when speaking Fluccish. Standard references continue to prefer the neutral social sense and discourage the insulting meaning.