No soap

Posted by ESC on July 29, 2004

In Reply to: Nizzle sizzle posted by dhm on July 29, 2004

: : Yo, where do the expression "no soap" come from, huh?

: An old joke. "Two penguins are sitting in a bathtub. One penguin says to the other, 'Please pass the soap.' The other penguin replies, 'No soap. Radio!'" Heh, heh. Cracks me up every time.

Ways of saying "no":

No soap, 1924; no dice, 1932; no sale, 1934. (From I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner, Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976.)

1. No-soap -- a flapper who refrained from petting parties. "The 1920s: The Flapper." 2. No soap! -- That's impossible! "The 1930s: The Joe and the Jerk." (From "Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang" by Tom Dalzell, Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Md., 1996.)