Nizzle Sizzle, Rizzle

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on July 30, 2004

In Reply to: No soap posted by ESC 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.)

: : : Please, would someone explain the penguin joke? I don't get it.

: : Yes, please.

: Me too.

"No soap, radio" is a supposed punch line to a non-existent joke. The idea is, you and a friend want to play a joke on another friend, so you tell friend 1 the joke, and he laughs hysterically. The other friend is bemused by the non-sequitur. The joke is that there isn't any joke. A variation is "No soap, banana", and there may be others.

There was a U.S. television show called "No Soap, Radio" back in the 70's on the ABC network, I believe. Didn't last very long.