Talk:soap

SOAP, a children's game: There is a children's paper-and-pencil game which was called SOAP, at least in my region. It involved drawing a 4x4 grid and writing the letters SOAP at the top of the columns, then choosing a category to write beside each row. The players attempt to come up with words in the categories which use S, O, A, or P as the starting letter. Little children attempted to quickly fill in one word in every cell, the winner being the quickest to finish. Older children tried to form the most words starting with each letter, within a certain time limit, the winner being the one with the most valid words. I am not certain this game was called SOAP universally; there is a chance it was only called that in my region, but the use of this name was widespread in my region (for example, kids from other schools knew the game as SOAP also). I can't yet find a reference for the game anywhere, and I wanted to open the discussion about it, to see if anyone can find a reference and if it would be appropriate to include a short wiktionary entry for this meaning of SOAP. Thanks Fallendarling 12:27, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Given the ancient and diverse history of soap, it would seem reasonable to have a little more info. Perhaps a Wikipedia entry? The illustration has a brand name impressed, and is dyed orange, rather than the natural white or tan color.  Most modern soaps have a plethora of synthetic ingredients, including stabilizers, perfumes, antibiotics, etc.  Soap should be distinguished from detergents, emulsifiers, etc. --Boldklub-PJs 01:54, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Spelling
Can someone explain the change of spelling sope → soap? At a glance, the difference in current pronunciations of sope and soap is insignificant, if even exists. The pronunciation is similar to the words hope, cope, spelling of which was not changed. Also it's hard to conclude that current spelling is a results of restored Old English or Latin form, at least, there is no such similarity with the old forms mentioned in the article. Maybe it was a result of historical change in pronunciation, for example, between sope and hope, which later became similar again? --95.165.205.230 05:01, 6 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I dont think there was a difference in pronunciation. Other words like moat and groan have also changed spelling.  Im not an expert, but from the looks of it I'd say that the spelling is simply random, just like how there's no rule that can predict which words in German begin with V and which with F. — Soap — 21:58, 18 July 2022 (UTC)

Arabic origin?
From the verb صبّ meaning to pour https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B5%D8%A8 & https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%86#Arabic
 * Very unlikely. It would need to be explained how the word got into proto-Germanic before it was in any of the Mediterranean languages. — Soap — 21:59, 18 July 2022 (UTC)