soap-boxn.

Etymology: < soap n.¹ + box n.²Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: ˈsoap-box.

A box for holding soap; originally and still occasionally, a small receptacle for a ball or bar of soap; later esp. a wooden case in which soap is or may be packed, traditionally used as a makeshift stand for a speaker; hence used figuratively and allusively.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [noun] > soap > receptacle for

soap-box1660

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > platform or stand

pulpita1387

pew1558

rostrum1652

stump1775

platform1817

stand1829

soap-box1907

paepae1937

society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > container or package for goods > [noun] > crate or packing-case > specific

egg-box1854

orange crate1889

soap-box1907

lug box1916

egg-crate1943

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > for specific occasion, purpose, or cause

bar-oratorya1754

mob-oratory1846

stumping1865

keynoting1889

soap-boxing1919

Limehousing1920

tub-thumpery1927

soap-box1928

1660 Act 12 Chas. II c. 4 Sched. at Boxes Soap-boxes the Shock, containing three-score boxes.

1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 143/3 A soap-box! A thing with a lid which is found on almost every wash-stand in Great Britain.

1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6130 Sponge tray, soap boxes, and brush trays.

1907 J. London Road 211 I get up on a soap-box to trot out the particular economic bees that buzz in my bonnet.

1912 Town Topics 16 Nov. 3/4 The days when a couple of..clerks on inverted soap boxes..were his staff.

1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 104/3 Soap box. Useful for travellers—each 1/6.

1928 Observer 1 Apr. 21/4 To use the language of Australian politics, ‘Soapbox must be met by soapbox.’

1933 E. O'Neill Days without End i. 32 If you knew what a burden he made my life for years with his preaching. Letter upon letter—each with a soap box inclosed, so to speak.

1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xxiii. 295 She made no answer to this outburst which, she felt, was only old Shanno blowing off steam... ‘Back to your soap box,’ she said briefly.

1945 N. Mitford Pursuit of Love xiii. 97 She became an out-and-out Communist..preaching her new-found doctrine..from a soap-box in Hyde Park.

1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven xi. 153 At his feet, a wax~faced baby moaned incessantly in a soap-box.

1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 260/1 Soap-box, spherical box of silver, pewter or brass for soap-ball, standing on moulded base with screw-on or hinged pierced or plain cover.

1968 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 19/2 I look upon my wealth, and now the House of Lords, as useful soap boxes.

1977 Time 14 Nov. 59/3 The primary U.S. condition for rejoining is that the I.L.O. get off its political soapbox.

Compounds

C1. General attributive (chiefly with reference to public speaking from a soap-box).

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the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [adjective] > for specific occasion, purpose, or cause

exaugural1887

soap-box1918

1918 National Geographic Mag. July 8/1 (caption) The soap~box orator and his auditors.

1924 Telephone Topics XVIII. 262 (heading) Public address system supersedes soap box oratory.

1926 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 294/1 I made ‘soap-box’ speeches, talked on street-corners.

1927 T. C. Pease United States 546 The choice of party candidates by manipulation of party conventions and soap-box primaries.

1933 D. Thomas Let. Sept. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 21 You must excuse my slight soap-box attitude.

1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 72 Soap~box orators screaming their envy of the rich.

1960 Times 1 Mar. 13/1 The theatrical appeal of her soap-box oratory.

C2.

soap-box cart n. a child's cart made from a soap-box.

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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > toy vehicle to ride on

go-cart1906

kiddy car1918

scooter1919

playmobile1921

soap-box cart1977

1977 J. van de Wetering Death of Hawker xiii. 119 I like inventing. I was always making soap box carts when I was a child.

soap-box derby n. [Derby n. 1d] a race for children driving motorless, improvised vehicles made from crates and crudely resembling race cars.A proprietary name in the United States.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing with vehicles > go-kart racing > [noun]

soap-box derby1950

karting1961

1950 Manch. Guardian Weekly 4 May 3/2 The ‘Soap Box Derby’ is an American festival rather more important to some..youngsters than the Fourth of July.

Derivatives

soap-box v. U.S. intransitive to speak from or as from a soap-box.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > make a speech [verb (intransitive)] > for particular occasion, purpose, or cause

epitaph1606

vary1680

stump1839

to take the stump1868

spruik1894

to go on the stump1903

Limehouse1913

tub-thump1920

soap-box1926

1926 E. O'Neill Great God Brown i. iii. 41 When you got to love to live it's hard to love living. I better join the A.F. of L. and soap-box for the eight-hour night!

1931 L. Adamic Dynamite 161 When still in her teens, she soap-boxed on street corners in New York.

soap-boxer n. a person who speaks from a soap-box.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > one who makes a speech or speeches > for specific occasion, purpose, or cause

spruiker1893

keynote speaker1896

soap-boxer1913

keynoter1948

1913 Industrial Worker (Spokane, Washington) 10 Apr. 4/1 They do want all the publicity that can be given them by the press, by the locals, soap-boxers, and by individual conversation.

1931 L. Adamic Dynamite 434 Late in the spring of 1930 I happened to listen to a soapboxer off Madison Street.

1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 78/3 He's been a soap boxer for the IWW (actually he sang and his brother spoke).

soap-boxing n.

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