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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary

So to speak

Hello, would somebody please explain what does the expression 'so to speak' means. Please cite some examples.

Thanks you!
  

Top answer

S o to speak, to use a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking: We still don't have our heads above water, so to speak. txt/6404548/11 , and for an instant one saw how ferociously 2 nd groom. Mr.

— Mister Micawber

  • S o to speak, to use a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking: We still don't have our heads above water, so to speak.
  • txt/6404548/11 , and for an instant one saw how ferociously 2 nd groom.
  • Mr.
  • txt/3827366/11 , on the rise, the split second between the h 5 here she makes most of her "hits".
  • txt/4208196/11 ?
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7 Answers
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So to speak, to use a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking: We still don't have our heads above water, so to speak.

1     a thoughtless delicacy, a grace of history, http://www.lextutor.ca/scripts/cgi-bin/ShowContext.exe/Brown.txt/6404548/11, and for
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Thank you for your reply sir, I came across with some meaning on the web, and it means 'if you will' and 'in other words.' How true is this?
One meaning is: "so to speak" is a signal that "I know this is wrong, but you may not be aware, so I'll make it obvious to you."

Another thing which I would like to ask, is it true that if you put quotation marks around slang because it will
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Thank you for your reply sir, I came across with some meaning on the web, and it means 'if you will' and 'in other words.' How true is this?-- Yes, that sounds appropriate.

One meaning is: "so to speak" is a signal that "I know this is wrong, but you may not be aware, so I'll make it obvious to you." -- I am not familiar with this use, and cannot imagine an example offhand.
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One meaning is: "so to speak" is a signal that "I know this is wrong, but you may not be aware, so I'll make it obvious to you." -- I am not familiar with this use, and cannot imagine an example offhand.

To have further idea to what I was talking above, here is the explaination that I got from another website:
Quote:
It raises the same objection th
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I see what he means, but I think using the phrase that way has more to do with the tone of voice in which it is spoken than its dictionary meaning.

By the way, that poster is speaking of the limited situation in which the writer uses slang simply for its meaning, but then encloses it in quotation marks as a hedging maneuver.
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I hate when people say SO TO SPEAK..sometimes I hear it being said "Soda Speak" UGGGGGGGG
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I've beem searching for the same explanation. I have yet to find one that truly satisfies the questions: What does it mean? But in reading all the semi-definitions, I have come to what I believe is a fairly good definition of this term:

It is a term used, following a phrase which we do not mean literally, but figuretively. As in "She floated on air, so to speak, when he proposed."
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