T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

Put a sock in it !

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) Get dressed now !

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

b) Be quiet/Shut up !

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

To tell someone to ’put a sock in it’ is an impolite way of telling someone to be quiet, or to stop making so much noise.

French translation

Tais-toi !, Mets-la en sourdine !

How NOT to translate : *Mets-y une chaussette !

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Examples in context

‘Boris Johnson says he and David Cameron are like Wallace and Gromit
London mayor makes comparison in French radio interview during Paris charm offensive’

‘He held forth in accented but near-perfect French for 40 minutes, Paris journalists couldn’t but wonder whether he was after David Cameron’s scalp. Johnson side-stepped questions on his ambitions for Downing Street, saying he had another three years as mayor. But he stood by comments in the Sun, seen as a rebuff to the home secretary, Theresa May, that Conservative cabinet ministers accused of positioning themselves for a post-Cameron leadership should "put a sock in it."

The Guardian, 15 March. 2013

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‘I say, do put a sock in it

‘The noise around us never stops. Even The Artist wasn’t really silent, for heaven’s sake. Famously, audiences have been walking out of The Artist when they discover it’s a silent movie. I finally went to see it last week and nearly stormed out when I discovered that it isn’t.
My lord, the racket. There’s music, there’s a series of sound jokes ; it even has dialogue. The noise just won’t let up. There are a few moments of quiet along the way (as there are in all films) but these were drowned out by people rustling sweet packets, crunching popcorn, slurping Pepsi, chatting, texting, coughing... Honestly, where do you have to go to get a bit of peace and quiet around here ?’

The Guardian, 5 Feb. 2012

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Everyday usage

Put a sock in it ! Some of us are trying to work here.

I have heard that story 3 times already. Will you please put a sock in it !

Put a sock in it ! You are spoiling the show for everyone.

c) Slow down !

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.


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