1782. Burney, Cecilia (1778), v. 308. [Oliphant, New Eng., ii. 192. Men are described as being OUT OF SORTS, a new phrase.]
1792. Holcroft, Road to Ruin. Gold. (passim). That's your sort!
1817. Scott, Rob Roy, xxvi. He has a kind o' Hieland honesty—he's honest AFTER A SORT, as they say.
1847. Porter, Big Bear, 126. He was breathin' SORTER hard.
1851. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, viii. No wonder you are OUT OF SORTS, my little cousin. To be an inmate with such a guest may well startle an innocent young girl.
1859. Thackeray, Virginians, xv. 'You were hurt by the betting just now?' 'Well,' replied the lad, 'I am SORT O' hurt.'
So-so. See So.
Soss, Sossle, &c. See Sozzle.
Sotweed, subs. (old).—Tobacco
(Grose). Hence SOTWEED-DEALER
and SOTWEED-PLANTER.
d.1704. Brown, Works, i. 126. When the stew'd SOTWEED in his Mouth has lain So long, till spitting does its Virtues drain.
1705. Ward, Hud. Rediv., i. 2, 22. I scarce had fill'd a pipe of SOTWEED, And by the Candle made it Hotweed.
1708. Cook, SOT-WEED Factor, 2. These SOTWEED planters crowd the shoar. Ibid. (1730), SOT-WEED Redivivus, 9. When aged Roan . . . Left Sotweed Factor in the Lurch.
Sou, Not a Sou (or Souse), subs.
(B. E. and Grose).—Nothing.
1761. Churchill, Rosciad, 310. Next came the treasurer of either house, One with full purse, t'other with NOT A SOUSE.
1812. Colman, Poet. Vag., 30. That, you may tell me, matters NOT A SOUSE.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. Not a sou had he got, not a guinea or note.
Soul. Soul in soak, phr. (nautical).—Drunk:
see Screwed
(Grose).
Soul-case, subs. phr. (Grose).—The
body.
Soul-driver, subs. phr. (old).—A
parson (B. E.).
Sound, verb. (Grose and Vaux).—To
examine; TO TRY (q.v.);
to extract information artfully;
TO PUMP (q.v.). To sound a
cly = to 'try' a pocket.
1597. Shakspeare. Richard III., iii. 1, 169. Go, gentle Catesby, And as it were, far off, SOUND thou Lord Hastings, How he doth stand affected to our purpose.
1626. Bacon, Negotiating (1887). It is better to SOUND a person with whom one deals, afar off, than to fall upon the point at first, except you mean to surprise him by some short question.
1768. Goldsmith, Good Natured Man, ii. I have SOUNDED him already at a distance, and find all his answers exactly to our wish.
1885. Ev. Standard, 3 Oct. His Holiness, however, on being SOUNDED on the subject, by the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, declined.
Sound as a roach (TROUT,
BELL, &c.), phr. (old).—Perfectly
sound. [Roche = rock].
1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, iv. 6. Lady B. I hope you are not wounded? Sir J. Sound as a roach, wife.
See Goose.
Soup, subs. (legal).—1. A brief for
the defence given to a junior in
court by the Clerk of the Peace
or Arraigns.
2. (printers').—Bad ink.
3. (thieves').—Melted plate: also WHITE SOUP. Whence SOUP-SHOP = A FENCE (q.v.); melting-pots are kept going, no money passing from fence to thief until identification is impossible.
In the soup, adv. phr. (American).—In a pickle, or difficulty; LEFT (q.v.).
