Soapy Sam圆滑的人

【使用地区】：英国

【释义】：

A slippery person．The first Soapy Sam，Samuel Wilberforce，bishop of Oxford and later Winchester，was a noncomformist and controversial clergyman if ever there was one．Although he was a devout man in his personal life，this position forced him to develop a suave，unctuous manner of speaking，persuasive but expedient almost to a fault．By 1860 he had earned the nickname Soapy Sam，which has since been applied to any slippery，unctuous speaker who can talk his way out of anything．The coining was perhaps given an assist by the initials“S．O．A．P．”on the floral decorations above the stall where he preached—these standing for the names Sam Oxon and Alfred Port．See also soapstone son of a bitch．

意为“圆滑的人”。Samuel Wilberforce，牛津主教，后成为威斯敏斯特主教，是第一个Soapy Sam。他是不信奉英国国教的基督教新教徒，是有史以来最有争议的牧师。尽管他在个人生活中是个诚恳的人，但这个职位使他形成了文雅却又圆滑的说话方式，虽有说服力，但不择手段，甚至不惜说错。1860年，他获得了Soapy Sam的绰号。从此Soapy Sam的名字用于任何圆滑、矫情的演说者，这种人能说服别人只按自己的方式行事。在他布道座位上方花饰上有首字母“S．O．AP．”，代表Sam Oxon和Alfred Port两人的名字，这也许促成了这个新造词。另参见 soapstone son of a bitch。