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Where does "Put a sock in it!" come from

Posted by James Briggs on August 14, 2000

In Reply to: Where does "Put a sock in it!" come from posted by Chris on August 14, 2000

: I know the meaning of "Put a sock in it!" but were does it come from?

If you tell someone to put a sock in it then you are telling them to be quiet. The Sock in this instance was originally a real sock. In the early days of sound reproduction and radio broadcasts the ability to control the volume of sound coming out of the instruments was almost non-existent; sound came out of large uncontrollable horns. However, if a sock was stuffed into the mouth of the horn, then the volume was considerably reduced, hence the saying.

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