soap

(well,) wash my mouth out with soap

A sarcastic exclamation of mock regret over a statement someone else found or might find offensive, objectionable, or tasteless. A: "You could at least watch your language around my kids!" B: "Oh, I'm sorry, is it too harsh for their sensitive little ears? Well, wash my mouth out with soap." Are you upset? Am I being too mean? I guess I ought to wash my mouth out with soap, huh? Oh did I offend you, you delicate flower? Well, wash my mouth out with soap.

See also: mouth, out, soap, wash

Don't drop the soap!

vulgar Mocking pseudo-advice given to a man who might be or is about to be sent to prison, referring to prison rape that may occur if one bends over to retrieve dropped soap in the shower, thus exposing himself. You were sentenced to five years for selling drugs? Tough luck, man, don't drop the soap! A: "Your brother got his prison sentence today, and all you could say was, 'Don't drop the soap?' I'm appalled." B: "What? That's good advice!" "Don't drop the soap," right, like I've never heard that one before. I've been a prisoner for eight years, man.

See also: drop

in soaped-pig fashion

Unclear or vague. The phrase refers to a now-outdated form of entertainment in which people tried to catch soaped pigs. Please make a decisive statement somewhere in your next paper because writing in this soaped-pig fashion won't get you a good grade! A: "Why isn't anyone here yet?" B: "Because you gave them instructions in soaped-pig fashion, without a set time." You need to set clear boundaries with children—nothing in soaped-pig fashion, you hear me?

See also: fashion

no dice

No luck; no chance; certainly not. Often said as a response indicating a total refusal or rejection. I tried swapping out the carburetor, but no dice. A: "Would you help me wash the dishes?" B: "Sorry, no dice. I've got somewhere I need to be."

See also: dice, no

no soap

No luck; no chance; certainly not. (Often said as a response, indicating a total refusal or rejection.) Primarily heard in US. I tried swapping out the carburetor, but no soap. A: "Can you help me move on Saturday?" B: "Sorry, no soap. I've got somewhere I need to be."

See also: no, soap

not know (someone) from a bar of soap

To be completely unaware of or know nothing about someone; to have never met the person indicated. My girlfriend got really excited when a movie star apparently walked past us, but I wouldn't know him from a bar of soap. Someone I wouldn't know from a bar of soap just contacted me online, claiming to be a distant relative.

See also: bar, know, not, of, soap

on (one's) soapbox

Vocalizing one's opinions, beliefs, or ideologies in an impassioned, impromptu manner, often to others' annoyance. Soapboxes (crates in which soap was shipped) were once commonly used as makeshift platforms for such speeches. Once Grandpa got on his soapbox about the local election again, I found an excuse to slip out of the room. Whenever Jim is on his soapbox like this, I just try to tune him out.

See also: on, soapbox

on a soapbox

Vocalizing one's opinions, beliefs, or ideologies in an impassioned, impromptu manner, often to others' annoyance. Soapboxes (crates in which soap was shipped) were once commonly used as makeshift platforms for such speeches. Uh oh, Grandpa is on a soapbox about local politics again. It always drives the rest of the family crazy! Whenever Jim gets on a soapbox like this, I just try to tune him out.

See also: on, soapbox

rinse (one's) mouth out (with soap)

To punish someone for using rude, vulgar, or obscene language by cleaning their mouth with soap (usually used merely as a threat). If you kids don't stop cussing in this house, I'm going to rinse your mouths out with soap!

See also: mouth, out, rinse

soap down

To cover someone, something, or oneself in soap. A noun or pronoun can be used between "soap" and "down." To conserve hot water, I turn the shower off while I soap down and then turn it back on to rinse off. Our dog hates getting soaped down for his bath. You'll really need to soap the car down thoroughly and rinse it down completely to stop corrosion from beginning.

See also: down, soap

soap opera

1. A sentimental, melodramatic serialized program, especially for television, often panned for having shallow, unrealistic characters and storylines. The name alludes to the fact that early radio shows of this type were sponsored by soap companies. I used to roll my eyes at the soap operas my mother watched, but now I'm completely hooked on them, too. The only thing the people in my office discuss are the latest scandals in the various soap operas they all follow.

2. By extension, a situation that is so melodramatic or sensational as to be reminiscent of such a show. Why does every relationship Jeff gets into turn into a soap opera? I swear, he looks for drama like this.

See also: opera, soap

soap opera effect

An informal term for "motion smoothing" or "motion interpolation," a process by which one's TV artificially increases the frame rate of video in order to remove motion blur. As a result, some movies and TV shows have an exaggeratedly realistic visual quality more typical of videotape (the traditional filming medium for soap operas) than film. A: "Why does everything look so weird on my new TV?" B: "It's the soap opera effect. Let's see if we can turn that off."

See also: effect, opera, soap

soap plant

Any plant that produces a lather that can be used for cleansing. Examples include the California soap plant, the soapberry, and the soapwort. My mom makes all-natural soap out of soap plants.

See also: plant, soap

soap scum

1. A thin white or gray film of soap, dirt, and skin cells that accumulates around the shower, bathtub, or sink. I don't think the previous owners of this place ever cleaned their bathrooms properly. The soap scum in the bathtubs must have been an inch thick! This spray promises to wash away soap scum without any need to scrub!

2. An extremely repugnant, vile, wretched person. You're worse than a rat, worse than a maggot—you're nothing but soap scum! I would never let my daughter date soap scum like you!

See also: scum, soap

soap up

To cover someone, something, or oneself in soap. A noun or pronoun can be used between "soap" and "up." To conserve hot water, I turn the shower off while I soap up and then turn it back on to rinse off. Our dog hates it when we soap him up for his bath.

See also: soap, up

soft soap

1. noun Flattering, cajoling talk meant to persuade someone, obtain something, or achieve a particular outcome. Don't let his soft soap get the better of you—he's only interested in himself. You think you can get whatever you want with a bit of soft soap, but some things in life have to be earned.

2. To persuade someone about something or persuade someone to do something, especially through the use of charm, flattery, or cajolery. Sometimes hyphenated. That weasel Mike is always trying to soft-soap the boss to get things done the way he wants. You'll never soft soap grandma, Jake—she's too shrewd for that.

See also: soap, soft

turn into a soap opera

1. Of a television program, to become overly sentimental and melodramatic, especially characterized by shallow, unrealistic characters and storylines (like those associated with soap operas). The first season of the show was really clever, with well-written main characters. But then it just turned into a soap opera with silly side plots focused on their various romantic entanglements.

2. To cause a television program to become overly sentimental and melodramatic. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "turn" and "into." I used to love this show before the writers turned it into a soap opera. Now it's all about stoking speculation about what the next scandal will be.

3. Of a situation in real life, to become exceptionally melodramatic or sensationalistic. Why does every one of Jeff's relationships turn into a soap opera? If I didn't know better, I would think he went out of his way to find drama like this.

4. To cause a situation in real life to become exceptionally melodramatic or sensationalistic. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "turn" and "into." Look, I just want the divorce to be as quick and painless as possible. The last thing I want to do is turn it into a soap opera.

See also: opera, soap, turn

wash (one's) mouth out (with soap)

To punish one for using rude, vulgar, or obscene language by cleaning their mouth with soap (usually used merely as a threat). If you kids don't stop cussing in this house, I'm going to wash your mouths out with soap!

See also: mouth, out, wash

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

no dice

Inf. no; not possible. When I asked about a loan, he said, "No dice." No. It can't be done, no dice.

See also: dice, no

no soap

Inf. no. I can't do it. No soap. No soap, I don't lend anyone money.

See also: no, soap

soap someone or something down

to cover someone or something thoroughly with soap or suds. Mother soaped Timmy down and rinsed him off in warm water. she soaped down the floor.

See also: down, soap

soft soap

 

1. flattering talk; sweet talk. I don't mind a little soft soap. It won't affect what I decide, though. Don't waste my time with soft soap. I know you don't mean it.

2. (Usually soft-soap.) to attempt to convince someone (of something) by gentle persuasion. We couldn't soft-soap her into it. Don't try to soft-soap her. she's an old battle-ax.

See also: soap, soft

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

no dice

Also, no go; no soap. No, certainly not; also, impossible. For example, Anthony wanted to borrow my new coat, but Mom said no dice, or We tried to rent the church for the wedding, but it's no go for the date you picked, or Jim asked Dad to help pay for the repairs, but Dad said no soap. All of these slangy expressions indicate refusal or an unsuccessful attempt. No dice, from the 1920s, alludes to an unlucky throw in gambling; no go, alluding to lack of progress, dates from about 1820; and no soap dates from about 1920 and possibly alludes to the phrase it won't wash, meaning "it won't find acceptance." Also see nothing doing; won't wash.

See also: dice, no

no soap

see under no dice.

See also: no, soap

soap opera

1. A radio or television serial with stock characters in domestic dramas that are noted for being sentimental and melodramatic. For example, She just watches soap operas all day long. This term originated in the mid-1930s and was so called because the sponsors of the earliest such radio shows were often soap manufacturers.

2. Real-life situation resembling one that might occur in a soap opera, as in She just goes on and on about her various medical and family problems, one long soap opera . [1940s]

See also: opera, soap

soft soap

Flattery, cajolery, as in She's only six but she's learned how to get her way with soft soap. This colloquial expression alludes to liquid soap, likening its slippery quality to insincere flattery. Its figurative use was first recorded in 1830.

See also: soap, soft

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

no dice

1. If you are trying to achieve something and you say there's no dice, you mean that you are having no success with it. I tried calling her and I tried one or two of her old friends in Hampstead, but there was no dice. I was hoping he'd offer me a ride in his hot-air balloon, but no dice.

2. If someone asks you for something and you reply no dice, you are refusing to do what they ask. Nope, sorry, we're not interested, no dice. Note: This expression comes from the game of craps (= a game that uses dice), and means that the player's last throw is not counted.

See also: dice, no

no soap

AMERICAN, INFORMAL

You say no soap to mean that you have failed to do something that you have been trying to do. I went over to his office yesterday and I called him at home this morning. No soap.

See also: no, soap

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

no dice

used to refuse a request or indicate that there is no chance of success. North American informal

1990 Paul Auster The Music of Chance Sorry kid. No dice. You can talk yourself blue in the face, but I'm not going.

See also: dice, no

no soap

no chance of something happening or occurring. North American informal

The origin of this expression, used to refuse a request, may lie in the mid 19th- century US informal use of soap to mean ‘money’.

1929 Edmund Wilson I Thought of Daisy If he tries to cut in on you, don't letum—I'll just tellum, no soap.

See also: no, soap

soft soap

persuasive flattery.

The underlying idea is of soft soap (literally a type of semi-fluid soap) being lubricative and unctuous.

See also: soap, soft

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

no ˈdice

(spoken, especially American English) used to show that you refuse to do something or that something cannot be done: ‘Did you get that job?’ ‘No dice.’When you throw dice in a game, if they do not fall flat or they land on top of each other, the throw is invalid and considered no dice.

See also: dice, no

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

soap up

v.

1. To cover someone or something with soap: We soaped up the car, scrubbed well, and rinsed it clean. I soaped my legs up and shaved them.

2. To cover oneself with soap: I soaped up and rinsed off in the shower.

See also: soap, up

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

no dice

interj. no; not possible. When I asked about a loan, he said, No dice.

See also: dice, no

no soap

interj. no. No soap, I don’t lend anyone money.

See also: no, soap

soap

n. a soap opera. Soaps are very popular on college campuses these days.

soft soap

1. n. flattering talk; sweet talk. I don’t mind a little soft soap. It won’t affect what I do, though.

2. tv. to attempt to convince someone (of something) by gentle persuasion. Don’t try to soft soap her. She’s an old battle-ax.

See also: soap, soft

Well, wash my mouth out with soap

and WWMMOWS

sent. & comp. abb. a request indicating pretend remorse for saying something profane or objectionable. So you don’t like my advanced vocabulary. WWMMOWS.

See also: mouth, out, soap, wash

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

no dice

1. Of no use; futile.

2. Used as a refusal to a request.

See also: dice, no

no soap

Slang

1. Not possible or permissible.

2. Unsuccessful; futile.

See also: no, soap

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

no dice

Nothing doing; useless and ineffective. A twentieth-century American colloquialism, this term clearly comes from gambling, but its precise origin is obscure. Presumably it meant that without dice one couldn’t have a game. It appears in print in several popular novels of the early 1940s, including A. Marshall’s Some Like It Hot (1941), which became a very successful motion picture (“No dice. I’ll get along in my own piddling fashion”). See also no way.

See also: dice, no

soft soap

Flattery. The analogy here is to a slithery, unctuous substance (which describes soft soap), and it has been drawn since the first half of the nineteenth century. “To see them flattering and soft soaping me all over,” wrote John Neal (John Beedle’s Sleigh Ride, ca. 1840). A contemporary synonym, now obsolete, was soft sawder, a substance used for soldering. It was still used in the 1940s but is seldom heard today.

See also: soap, soft

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer

no dice

An absolute refusal. According to one explanation, courts would not convict gamblers at illegal craps games unless they were caught with dice (swallowing the evidence was not an uncommon way to get rid of it). “No dice, no conviction” was the watchword that referred to that refusal to convict.

See also: dice, no

Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price