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

soft-soap

[sawft-sohp, soft-] /ˈsɔftˈsoʊp, ˈsɒft-/
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
Examples from the web for soft soap
  • Some of us can remember when soft soap was made on farms as it was in pioneer and colonial times.
  • Ingredients included soft soap, boiled meal and dog, pig or fowl dung.
  • Masks should be washed daily in warm water with soft soap and left to air dry.
  • They found that the bridge planking had been removed and the remaining two sleepers greased with soft soap and tallow.
  • These political economists of the soft soap school would stand proudly on a platform recommending moonshine as a legal tender.
  • There was about a wagonload ot soft soap at that point, and it was not there by accident.
British Dictionary definitions for soft soap

soft soap

noun
1.
(med) another name for green soap
2.
(informal) flattering, persuasive, or cajoling talk
verb
3.
(informal) to use such talk on (a person)
Word Origin and History for soft soap

soft-soap

n.

1630s, from soft (adj.) + soap (n.). Figurative sense "flattery" is recorded from 1830.

soft soap in Culture

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.”

Slang definitions & phrases for soft soap

soft soap

noun phrase

Flattery; cajolement; sweet-talk: I won her over finally with a lot of soft soap (1830+)

verb

: We had to soft-soap the electorate pretty shabbily (1840+)


Idioms and Phrases with soft 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.