[Ads-l] No soap

[Michael Quinion]

Among the pieces posted this weekend to my website is one on the 
Americanism /no soap/: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nos1.htmI . I 
suggest an origin among US Navy recruits during the First World War. (A 
couple of relevant citations antedating the OED are included in the 
piece but I have others on file.) Comments on the suggested origin will 
be most welcome.

I've also written about the US sense of /nimrod/ as an inept person: 
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nim1.htm . Comments likewise most 
welcome.

-- 

Michael Quinion, World Wide Words
http://www.worldwidewords.org


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