soapbox

See also: soap box

English

A person expresses his opinion.

Alternative forms

• soap box, soap-box

Etymology

From soap +‎ box. The figurative use of the word derives from the fact that soap products in the US used to be commonly transported to stores in large wooden boxes. It used to be common for individuals to give impromptu rally speeches to their neighbors by finding something to stand on like a soapbox.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊpbɒks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

soapbox (plural soapboxes)

1. (literally) A crate for packing soap.
2. A small platform, being or resembling a literal soapbox, on which a person stands in order to give an impromptu speech or espouse his or her views.

   The madman obtained a soapbox which he stood on at the corner of Broadway and Wall street, to shout out his prophesy of the end of the world.

   • 1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXV, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

     The one image which the word “Socialist” brought to Jurgis was of poor little Tamoszius Kuszleika, who had called himself one, and would go out with a couple of other men and a soap-box, and shout himself hoarse on a street corner Saturday nights.

3. (figuratively, often pejorative) A platform or outlet, such as a media platform, that a person uses to express his or her opinions.

   The politician used Twitter as his soapbox.

   Please stop using council meetings as your own personal soapbox.

   • 2013, Robert F. Ely, Candidate for President, →ISBN, page 25:

     Bernhard's last appearance on a late-night talk show was a handy soapbox to expound on his political message of patriotism, nationalism, and populism.

4. (derogatory, especially in phrases such as 'on/off one's soapbox') A figurative means of talking repeatedly or at length about one's opinions on one's pet topic.

   He's been on his soapbox all day about the new football coach.

   1. (loosely) The topic itself.

      His soapbox is the lack of public toilets in the city.

5. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (figuratively) A talk about one's pet topic, especially when only tangentially relevant to an ongoing discussion.
6. A soapbox car.

Translations

crate for packing soap

• Finnish: saippualaatikko

platform for presenting one's viewpoints

• Afrikaans: seepkis
• Catalan: tribuna (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 宣講臺 / 宣讲台 (xuānjiǎngtái)

• Finnish: puhujalava (physical platform), äänitorvi (fi) (media platform)
• French: tribune (fr), estrade (fr)
• Russian: импровизи́рованная трибу́на f (improvizírovannaja tribúna), трибу́на (ru) f (tribúna)
• Scots: saipbox
• Spanish: tribuna improvisada f, podio (es) m, estrado (es)
• Welsh: bocs sebon m

pet topic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 個人觀點 / 个人观点 (gèrén guāndiǎn)

• Finnish: mieliaihe, lempiaihe
• Russian: конёк (ru) m (konjók)

soapbox car — see soapbox car

Verb

soapbox (third-person singular simple present soapboxes, present participle soapboxing, simple past and past participle soapboxed)

1. To give a speech from (or as if from) a soapbox.
   • 2011, Phil Wolfson, Noe: A Father-Son Song of Love, Life, Illness, and Death, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN:

     He soapboxed for whales and pressed us to write petitions and demonstrate with him—he as the leader, we as followers.

   • 2015, Marc Matera, Black London: The Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the Twentieth Century, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 80:

     […] and various members soapboxed in Hyde Park on Sunday.