steep oneself in drink; TO BOOZE (q.v.). Whence soaking = hard drinking; soaked = drunk: see Screwed: to set soaking = to ply the pot (B. E., Bailey, and Grose).
1700. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 10. The Sun's a good Pimple, an honest soaker; he has a Cellar at your Antipodes.
d. 1704. Locke, Works [Ency. Dict.]. The tickling of his palate with a glass of wine, or the idle chat of a soaking club.
1709. Dampier, Voyages, 1. 419. Scarce a ship goes to China but the Men come home fat with soaking this Liquor [Arrack].
d. 1716. South, Sermons, vi. iii. By a good natur'd man is usually meant neither more nor less than a good fellow; a painful, able, and laborious soaker.
1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, xxi. You do nothing but soak with the guests all day long.
1772. Bridges, Burlesque Homer, 58. On this th' old soaker said no more.
1837. Barham, Ingold. Leg., 'Milk-maid's Story.' That particular day, As I've heard people say, Mr. David Pryce had been soaking his clay.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxvi. Her voice is as cracked as thine, O thou beer-soakiNG Renowner.
1855. Parsons, Inside View of Slavery [Bartlett]. When a Southron intends to have a soak, he takes the bottle to his bedside, goes to bed, and lies there till he gets drunk.
Verb. (common).—1. To pawn: also TO PUT IN SOAK.
2. (anglers').—To be lavish of bait.
3. (common).—To sit lazily over the fire (Halliwell).
Soaker, subs. (colloquial).—A heavy rain. See Soak.
1851-61. MAYHEW, Lond. Lab., 1. 314. Well, sir, suppose it's a soaker in the morning . . . then, maybe, after all, it comes out a fine day.
1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag & Co. That countryman was right when he prognosticated a soaker.
Soap, subs. (common).—1. Flattery: also SOFT-SOAP: cf. SOFT-sawder. As verb. = to flatter; TO CARNEY (q.V.); SOAPY = smooth-tongued.
1840. Widow Bedott Papers, 308. You don't catch me a slanderin' folks behind their backs, and then soft soapin' them to their faces.
1843. Walsh, Speech [Bartlett]. I am tired of this system of placemen soft-soaping the people.
1853. Bradley, Verdant Green. The tailor and robemaker . . . visibly soaped our hero in what is understood to be the shop sense of the word.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, xxxiii. He and I are great chums, and a little soft-soap will go a long way with him.
1865. Dickens, Dr. Marigold . . . These Dear Jacks soap the people shameful, but we Cheap Jacks don't.
1876. Diprose, Laugh and Learn. Flattery is the confectionery of the world. In polite society it goes by the name of soap, and in general is designated soft-sawder.
1902. Delannov, £19,000, xxxix. 'Mrs. Depew, you're the most sensible woman I've ever met.' 'None of your soft-soap, now.'
2. (old).—Money: generic: spec. secret service money. As verb. = to bribe.
1834. Marryatt, Peter Simple, iv. Well, Reefer, how are you off for soap?
1884. Boston [Mass.] Globe, 7 Oct. 'Sinews of war,' and 'living issues,' soap, and other synonyms for campaign boodle are familiar.
18 [?]. Mag. Amer. Hist. [Century]. Soap—Originally used by the Republican managers during the campaign of 1880, as the cipher for money in their telegraphic despatches. In 1884 it was revived as a derisive war cry aimed at the Republicans by their opponents.
3. (Royal Military Academy).—Cheese.
SOAP-AND-BULLION, subs. phr. (nautical).—See quot.
