pʊt ə sɒk ɪn ɪt
General
informal
intermediate
- Literally:
- Placing a sock inside something
What does "put a sock in it" mean?
- To stop talking or be quiet
- An impolite way to tell someone to shut up
Examples
- Put a sock in it—I'm trying to concentrate!
- I wish he'd put a sock in it for once.
- She finally told him to put a sock in it.
Origin
From early gramophones that had no volume control—people would stuff a sock in the horn to reduce sound.
How to use it
Rude and informal. Best used among friends or in frustration.
Similar expressions
shut up
be quiet
zip it
pipe down
Opposites
speak up
keep talking
Related idioms
- actions speak louder than words
What people do is more important than what they say
- better safe than sorry
It's better to be careful and prevent problems than to take risks
- so far so good
Things have gone well up to now
- easier said than done
Something is more difficult to do than to talk about
- make a long story short
To summarize or get to the point
- to make matters worse
In addition to existing problems
Use it in a practice answer
Try "put a sock in it" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.