soft-soap

soft soap

noun
1.
Informal. persuasive talk; flattery: to use soft soap to get one's way.
2.
the semifluid soap produced when potassium hydroxide is used in the saponification of a fat or an oil.

Origin:
1625–35

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Soft-soap is one of our favorite verbs.
So is kibitz. Does it mean:
chat, to converse
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

soft-soap

[sawft-sohp, soft-]
verb (used with object)
1.
Informal. to cajole; flatter.
2.
to apply soft soap to.
verb (used without object)
3.
to use soft soap in washing.

Origin:
1820–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To soft-soap
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

soft soap definition


Flattery: “Mary asked the boss to stop giving her a lot of soft soap about her performance and to start leveling with her like any other employee.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

soft soap definition


  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.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
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