no soap

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Phrase === no soap (idiomatic, slang, dated) It is (or was) a failure. Synonyms: no joy, nothing doing === Anagrams === napoos