Meanings
- datedidiomaticslangIt is (or was) a failure.
And he tried again—Lou always persisted—but no soap.
1992, Richard Ben Cramer, What It Takes: The Way to the White House, Random House4 more examples
I went back down to the men's room on the second floor and yelled his name in front of the private apartments, but no soap.
1942, Rex Stout, Black Orchids, Farrar & RinehartI waited for his assistance but it didn't come. He let me trail for I don't know how long. I hollered and cried, cursed, rocked the boat. No soap.
1953 September 18, Saul Bellow, chapter XXV, in The Adventures of Augie March […], New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLCI rang. Nothing happened. I rang again and leaned on it. No soap.
1973, Robert B. Parker, The Godwulf Manuscript, Houghton MifflinStill and all, after weighing the pluses and minuses of Smooth's offer, he came, to the only possible conclusion for a civilized man—no soap.
1983 March, Bruce Jay Friedman, “Detroit Abe”, in EsquireSynonyms: no joy, nothing doing
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseIt is (or was) a failure.
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.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
no soap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/no%20soap
“no soap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/no%20soap. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “no soap,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/no%20soap.
Source: no soap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.