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so to speak

 - 7 dictionary results
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so

1  [soh]
Use so to speak in a Sentence
–adverb
1. in the way or manner indicated, described, or implied: Do it so.
2. in that or this manner or fashion; thus: So it turned out.
3. in the aforesaid state or condition: It is broken and has long been so.
4. to the extent or degree indicated or suggested: Do not walk so fast.
5. Informal. very or extremely: I'm so sad.
6. very greatly: My head aches so!
7. (used before an adverb or an adverbial clause and fol. by as) to such a degree or extent: so far as I know.
8. having the purpose of: a speech so commemorating the victory.
9. for this or that reason; hence; therefore: She is ill, and so cannot come to the party.
10. (used as an affirmative to emphasize or confirm a previous statement) most certainly: I said I would come, and so I will.
11. (used as an emphatic affirmative to contradict a previous statement) indeed; truly; too: I was so at the party!
12. likewise or correspondingly; also; too: If he is going, then so am I.
13. in such manner as to follow or result from: As he learned, so did he teach.
14. in the way that follows; in this way: The audience was seated, and so the famous speech began.
15. in the way that precedes; in that way: So ended the speech, and the listeners arose and cheered.
16. in such way as to end in: So live your life that old age will bring you no regrets.
17. then; subsequently: and so to bed.
–conjunction
18. in order that (often fol. by that): Check carefully, so any mistakes will be caught.
19. with the result that (often fol. by that): He checked carefully, so that the mistakes were caught.
20. on the condition that; if.
–pronoun
21. such as has been stated: to be good and stay so.
22. something that is about or near the persons or things in question, as in number or amount: Of the original twelve, five or so remain.
–interjection
23. (used as an exclamation of surprise, shock, discovery, inquiry, indifference, etc., according to the manner of utterance.)
–adjective
24. true as stated or reported; conforming with reality or the fact: Say it isn't so.
—Idioms
25. only or just so many, being a limited or small number or amount: I can eat only so many pieces of fruit.
26. only or just so much, being a limited amount or quantity; up to a certain point or maximum: I can eat only so much fruit; just so much that one can do in such a case.
27. so as,
a. with the result or purpose: to turn up the volume of the radio so as to drown out the noise from the next apartment.
b. Older Use. provided that: I like any flower, just so as it's real.
28. so much,
a. something, as an amount or cost, that is not specified or determined: The carpeting is priced at so much per yard.
b. all that is or needs to be said or done: So much for the preliminaries, let's get down to the real issues.
29. so much as, even: He doesn't so much as say hello to me.
30. so to speak. speak (def. 22).
31. so what? what (def. 25).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE swā; c. D zoo, G so, Goth swa

Synonyms:
9. See therefore.

Usage note:
5. The intensive so meaning “very or extremely” (Everything's so expensive these days) occurs chiefly in informal speech. In writing and formal speech, intensive so is most often followed by a completing that clause: Everything is so expensive that some families must struggle just to survive.
18, 19. The conjunction so (often followed by that) introduces clauses both of purpose (We ordered our tickets early so that we could get good seats) and of result (The river had frozen during the night so people walked across it all the next day). In formal speech and writing, so that is somewhat more common than so in clauses of purpose. Otherwise, either so or so that is standard.
Like and, but1, and or, so can occur as a transitional word at the beginning of a sentence: So all our hard work finally brought results. See also as 1 , and, but 1 .
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speak

  [speek] ,verb, spoke or (Archaic) spake; spo⋅ken or (Archaic) spoke; speak⋅ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary voice; talk: He was too ill to speak.
2. to communicate vocally; mention: to speak to a person of various matters.
3. to converse: She spoke with him for an hour.
4. to deliver an address, discourse, etc.: to speak at a meeting.
5. to make a statement in written or printed words.
6. to communicate, signify, or disclose by any means; convey significance.
7. Phonetics. to produce sounds or audible sequences of individual or concatenated sounds of a language, esp. through phonation, amplification, and resonance, and through any of a variety of articulatory processes.
8. (of a computer) to express data or other information audibly by means of an audio response unit.
9. to emit a sound, as a musical instrument; make a noise or report.
10. Chiefly British. (of dogs) to bark when ordered.
11. Fox Hunting. (of a hound or pack) to bay on finding a scent.
–verb (used with object)
12. to utter vocally and articulately: to speak words of praise.
13. to express or make known with the voice: to speak the truth.
14. to declare in writing or printing, or by any means of communication.
15. to make known, indicate, or reveal.
16. to use, or be able to use, in oral utterance, as a language: to speak French.
17. (of a computer) to express or make known (data, prompts, etc.) by means of an audio response unit.
18. Nautical. to communicate with (a passing vessel) at sea, as by voice or signal: We spoke a whaler on the fourth day at sea.
19. Archaic. to speak to or with.
—Verb phrases
20. speak for,
a. to intercede for or recommend; speak in behalf of.
b. to express or articulate the views of; represent.
c. to choose or prefer; have reserved for oneself: This item is already spoken for.
21. speak out, to express one's opinion openly and unreservedly: He was not afraid to speak out when it was something he believed in strongly.
—Idioms
22. so to speak, to use a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking: We still don't have our heads above water, so to speak.
23. speak by the book, to say with great authority or precision: I can't speak by the book, but I know this is wrong.
24. speak well for, to be an indication or reflection of (something commendable); testify admirably to: Her manners speak well for her upbringing.
25. to speak of, worth mentioning: The country has no mineral resources to speak of.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME speken, OE specan, var. of sprecan; c. G sprechen (OHG sprehhan; cf. var. spehhan)

Related forms:
speak⋅a⋅ble, adjective
speak⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun
speak⋅a⋅bly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. Speak, converse, talk mean to make vocal sounds, usually for purposes of communication. To speak often implies conveying information and may apply to anything from an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address: to speak sharply; to speak before Congress. To converse is to exchange ideas with someone by speaking: to converse with a friend. To talk is a close synonym for to speak but usually refers to less formal situations: to talk about the weather; to talk with a friend. 12. pronounce, articulate. 13. say. 15. disclose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To so to speak
speak   (spēk)   
v.   spoke (spōk), spo·ken (spō'kən), speak·ing, speaks

v.   intr.

  1. To utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation; talk.

    1. To convey thoughts, opinions, or emotions orally.

    2. To express oneself.

    3. To be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.

    4. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.

    5. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.

    6. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.

    7. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.

    8. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.

    9. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.

    10. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.

  3. To deliver an address or lecture: The mayor spoke at the rally.

    1. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.

    2. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.

    3. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.

    4. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.

    5. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.

    6. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.

    7. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.

    1. To convey a message by nonverbal means: Actions speak louder than words.

    2. To be expressive: spoke with her eyes.

    3. To be appealing: His poetry speaks to one's heart.

    4. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.

    5. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.

  6. To make a reservation or request. Often used with for: Is this dance spoken for? I spoke for the last slice of pizza.

    1. To produce a characteristic sound: The drums spoke.

    2. To give off a sound on firing. Used of guns or cannon.

  8. To make communicative sounds.

  9. To give an indication or a suggestion: His manners spoke of good upbringing.

v.   tr.

  1. To articulate in a speaking voice: spoke words of wisdom.

  2. To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.

    1. To express aloud; tell: speak the truth.

    2. To express in writing.

  4. Nautical To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.

  5. To convey by nonverbal means: His eyes spoke volumes.

  6. To speak loud enough to be audible.

  7. To speak without fear or hesitation.

Phrasal Verb(s):
speak outTo talk freely and fearlessly, as about a public issue.
speak up

  1. To speak loud enough to be audible.

  2. To speak without fear or hesitation.


Idiom(s):
so to speakIn a manner of speaking: can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

Idiom(s):
speak down toTo speak condescendingly to: She never spoke down to her audience.

Idiom(s):
to speak ofWorthy of mention: There's nothing new to speak of.

[Middle English speken, from Old English sprecan, specan.]
speak'a·ble adj.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to express one's thoughts by uttering words. Speak and talk, often interchangeable, are the most general: He ate without once speaking to his companion. "On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure" (Oscar Wilde). I want to talk with you about vacation plans. "Let's talk sense to the American people" (Adlai E. Stevenson).
Converse stresses interchange of thoughts and ideas: "With thee conversing I forget all time" (John Milton).
Discourse usually refers to formal, extended speech: "striding through the city, stick in hand, discoursing spontaneously on the writings of Hazlitt" (Manchester Guardian Weekly).
Word History: Because English is a Germanic language, first-year German produces many moments of recognition for English speakers and several puzzles. For example, when we learn the verb sprechen, sprach, gesprochen, "to speak," and the noun Sprache, "speech, language," we wonder whether we lost the r or the Germans put one in. Sounds are more often lost than added in language change, and this is the case here. In Old English the verb was sprecan, the noun sprǣc, both with an r as in German (and in the other Germanic languages). The r-less forms began to appear in the south of England and became common in the 11th century; the forms with r disappeared completely by the middle of the 12th. A similar loss of r after a consonant and before a vowel occurred in the Middle English noun prang and its variant pronge, "severe pain, sharp pain." Pronge survives today as prong (of a pitchfork, for example). The plural of prang appears in a poem composed about 1400 as pangus, "sharp stabs of pain," and survives today as pang, "sharp, stabbing pain."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
so

  1. mod.
    very. (An intensifier that can appear before prepositional phrases and other selected adjectives that typically are not intensified.) : I was so toasted that I said, “I'm so out of here!”
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

so 
O.E. swa, swæ "in this way," from P.Gmc. *swa (cf. O.S., M.Du., O.H.G. so, O.N. sva, Dan. saa, Swed. sa, O.Fris. sa, Du. zo, Ger. so "so," Goth. swa "as"), from PIE reflexive pronomial stem *s(w)o- (cf. Gk. hos "as," O.Latin suad "so," L. se "himself"). So? as a term of dismissal is attested from 1886 (short for is that so?); so what as an exclamation of indifference dates from 1934. So-so "mediocre" is from 1530; so-and-so is from 1596 meaning "something unspecified;" first recorded 1897 as a euphemistic term of abuse.
"The adverb so at the beginning of a sentence ('So I'll pay for it!'), probably of Yiddish origin, occurs frequently in conversation." [M.Pei, "Story of English," 1952]

speak 
O.E. specan, variant of sprecan "to speak" (class V strong verb; past tense spræc, pp. sprecen), from P.Gmc. *sprekanan (cf. O.S. sprecan, O.Fris. spreka, M.Du. spreken, O.H.G. sprehhan, Ger. sprechen "to speak," O.N. spraki "rumor, report"), cognate with L. spargere "to strew" (speech as a "scattering" of words; see sparse). The -r- began to drop out in Late West Saxon and was gone by mid-12c., perhaps from infl. of Dan. spage "crackle," in a slang sense of "speak" (cf. crack in slang senses having to do with speech, e.g. wisecrack, cracker, all it's cracked up to be). Rare variant forms without -r- also are found in M.Du. (speken) and O.H.G. (spehhan). Not the primary word for "to speak" in O.E. ("Beowulf" prefers maþelian, from mæþel "assembly, council," from root of metan "to meet;" cf. Gk. agoreuo "to speak," originally "speak in the assembly," from agora "assembly").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

so to speak

Phrased like this, in a manner of speaking, as in He was, so to speak, the head of the family, although he was only related by marriage to most of the family members. This term originally meant "in the vernacular" or "lower-class language" and was used as an aristocrat's apology for stooping to such use. [Early 1800s] Also see as it were.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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