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Put a Sock in It


The phrase 'Put a Sock in It' is an impolite way of telling someone to be quiet.

Example of Use: "Put a sock in it! Some of us are trying to work around here."


Interesting fact about Put a Sock in It

The origin of the idiom 'put a sock in it' is early 20th century Britain. The earliest example of the term in print is a definition that was printed in the weekly literary review The Anenaeum in 1919: “The expression ‘Put a sock in it,’ meaning ‘Leave off talking, singing, or shouting’.” Because the term is being defined in this example, it is believed that the idiom was coined sometime in 1919 or perhaps a year or two before that.