soft sawder
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Flattery, adulation. Soft solder {pronounced sawder) is a composition of tin and lead, used for soldering zinc, lead, and tin ; hard solder for brass, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “soft sawder” mean?
Flattery, adulation. Soft solder {pronounced sawder) is a composition of tin and lead, used for soldering zinc, lead, and tin ; hard solder for brass, etc.
Is “soft sawder” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.