# no soap

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/no-soap
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

It is (or was) a failure.

## Examples

- I asked for a raise, but it was no soap.
- We tried to fix the broken engine all afternoon, but it was no soap.
- Despite their elaborate efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution, the diplomats ultimately found that it was no soap.

## Origin

The phrase appears, with no clear meaning, in a 1755 Samuel Foote nonsense prose poem, "The Grand Panjandrum". In the U.S., soap took on the meaning of money (see OED), and so no soap was a denial of money, say in response to a request for some.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.