Since the early 19th century, to soft-soap someone is to flatter them or give them excessively deferential treatment. The idea is that soft soap is unctuous and if you pour soft soap down someone’s back or pour soft soap into someone’s...
As we noted in an earlier conversation, people in the United States usually pronounce the word buoy as BOO-ee, but their counterparts in Britain tend to pronounce it BOY. Commercials airing in the U.S. for Lifebuoy soap use the British...
How did serialized melodramas come to be called soap operas? The answer has to do with the suds-selling sponsors of old-time radio shows. This is part of a complete episode.
soaping n.— «The guys stroll the streets in their Soap shoes, a brand of shoe that allows them to grind their way in a practice known as aggressive walking, or soaping. Their sneakers may not look different from anyone else’s, but their...
soap game n.— «The “soap game” which was started last year drew more than 200 fans and attendance tomorrow night should be even better. Admission to the contest is one average size bar of soap.» —“Announce Lineups For...
tent pole n.— «Megan McTavish, the show’s head writer, said she was most astonished that fans elevated Bianca into one of the serial’s “tent poles”—soap parlance for characters who hold enormous sway with viewers...