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The meaning and origin of the expression: Soap-dodger

Soap-dodger

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Soap-dodger'?

A scruffy or dirty person; one who washes rarely.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Soap-dodger'?

This derogatory term was coined in the UK in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It was often applied to that itinerant drop-out group the 'New Age travellers', who are also derided as 'crusties'.

The first mention I can find of the term in print is Tony Thorne's Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 1990:

"Soap-dodger..., a dirty, unkempt or smelly person, a 'scruffbag' or dosser."

'Dodger' is often used in UK slang. In the 18th century, tub-thumping, ranting preachers were called 'Devil-dodgers'; for example, this piece from James Lackington's Memoirs, 1791:

"These devil-dodgers happened to be so very powerful (that is, noisy)."

More recently, we have seen 'doom-dodgers' and 'coffin-dodgers'; for example, in the 1978 Journal of the Royal Society of Arts:

"Nor am I a doom-dodger or a back-to-nature boy."

and from The Independent on Sunday May 1996, in a piece reviewing a glossary of English/Scottish terms aimed at aiding Americans in reading Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting;

"Many of the words explained in the glossary are relatively common British slang - bevvy, dosh, gaff, giro and rat-arsed. But there are plenty that would bemuse most other English-speakers as well: '"biscuit-ersed' (self- pitying), 'coffin-dodger' (senior citizen)."

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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