Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a shambling or clumsy person; also as a term of address; thus slew-footed/slue-footed.

1899		Newcastle Courant 4 Feb. 2/3: Brudder Slewfoot, parse de hat!
1901		Wellington jrnl 12 Jan. 3/3: Brother Slewfoot ain’t dat kind ob a man.
1909		L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:v 371: slue-foot(ed), adj. Having big ugly feet; also having twisted or crooked feet.
1917		Sheffield Wkly Teleg. 14 Apr. 14/2: ‘Certainly, Slewfoot! I will wirte that you are a chronic optimist and an inveterate kleptomaniac’.
1939		E. O’Brien One Way Ticket 73: What you mumblin’ about, Slewfoot?
1948		J. Archibald ‘Klump a la Carte’ Popular Det. July 🌐 .
1957		H.B. Allen ‘Pejorative Terms for Midwest Farmers’ in AS XXXIII:4 265: [...] slue foot.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1894		Irving Jones ‘Lucinda’ 🎵 Dere’s a big black coon called slew-foot Jim.
1909		L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:v 371: slue-foot(ed), adj. Having big ugly feet; also having twisted or crooked feet.
1920		H. Wiley Wildcat 102: Ah neveh seed such a slew-foot triflin’ outfit.
1932		J. Peterkin Bright Skin 24: Don’ make me talk bout dat slue-foot devil.
1934		Z.N. Hurston Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1995) 43: You ole battle-hammed, slew-foot, box-ankled nubbin, you!
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 17: Told him t’ take the dollar and go down t’ Slue-Foot Bessie’s.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 31: Old slew-foot Nietzsche. Bombed out of his gourd by the nowhereness of it all.

3. a police officer; a (private) detective; also attrib.

1907		Leigh Chron. 29 Mar. 2/3: ‘Ah, you are Olt Slewfoot ain’d it? Und vot iss your game?’ ‘I’m searching for a suspicious.’ ‘Are you on his track?’.
1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 31/2: SLEWFOOT. Detective.
1931		A. Hardin ‘Volstead English’ in AS VII:2 85: Terms referring to representatives of the law: [...] Slewfoot.
1938		J. Archibald ‘Bird Cagey’ in Popular Detective Jan. 🌐 I am glad to see that some of the slewfoots have a fragment of brain.
1939		Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. 46: slewfoot – a detective.
1944		J. Archibald ‘Defective Bureau’ in Popular Detective 🌐 I tol’ you not to go buttin’ in, di’n’t I, you comic book slewfoot.
1948		J. Archibald ‘Klump a la Carte’ Popular Det. July 🌐 The bonafide slewfoot hiked to the phone booth.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 197/2: Slewfoot. A detective.
1959		A. Zugsmith Beat Generation 50: It’s just the place for slewfoot suckers.